The Academy Days
by drivingreaderscrazy
Summary: Here is a look at how Spock and Uhura, his new TA, met and how their relationship developed at the Academy. (If you're just looking for smut skip to chapters 8 and up.)
1. Chapter 1

Thus far, today had been a productive day. Spock had graded the papers he had assigned to his Interspecies Ethics Class and finalized the test material for tomorrow's Advanced Phenology Midterm all before noon. While the computer finished calculating the grade distribution for the Ethics papers Spock reviewed the resume of his new TA for anything he could easily engage in small talk about out of human curtesy, something he had not considered when reviewing her resume in the application process.

Although one of the few second year students to apply for the position, Cadet Uhura was certainly as qualified as her elders. She had, on her own time, worked to get ahead in the list of languages required for the communications officer track—and was nearing the level of proficiency required upon graduation—and was therefore able to take some of the advanced third and fourth year language courses. She had also logged nearly double the required number of hours for second years in the long range sensor lab, a place most cadets found boring and rarely took the opportunity to explore.

She was also was not too near graduation and therefor would be able to work for Spock as a TA for the next few years and would be able to assist his replacement when Spock left for the_Enterprise_. Now here was something for them to talk about: Ms. Uhura's ambition was to someday serve on the _Enterprise_. He could certainly bring up this goal of hers as a way to, as humans would put it, "break the ice" before giving her any new work.

It was just then that Spock heard the door chime indicating Cadet Uhura had arrived. Spock closed out of her resume and reopened the grade distribution calculations. "Come," he called while rising from his desk chair to greet the Cadet.

She entered in the standard cadet red uniform, hair tied back as usual. Although she had been in both of his classes before the two had rarely communicated and never further than simple pleasantries. It was no surprise to Spock then that, while she entered his office confidently, she appeared just slightly out of place.

"Hello, Commander," she said "I am Cadet Uhura, you contacted me about my application as your TA?" Although not a terribly formal greeting it was direct and to the point, something Spock could appreciate. There would apparently be no need for small talk.

"Yes, Cadet sit down," he responded indicating the chair opposite his desk. "I called you here to inform you that I have selected you for the position of my second Teaching Assistant. As you know Cadet Morrison will be graduating soon and I would like you to replace him when he does. For now, however, you would act as a second Teaching Assistant for me and learn the responsibilities and duties assigned to such a task. Do you accept the position?"

The Cadet was apparently excited about the offer as she smiled and responded "Absolutely, Commander I'll start right away."

Although she was clearly not surprised by the offer her eagerness to take on the job was a good sign to Spock. "Very well, I have just completed the grading process for an Interspecies Ethics Class assignment. I would like you to use this PADD for all the work I give you," he picked up the PADD that had been resting beside his own on his desk and handed it to her. "If you will turn it on you will see the assignments are already loaded onto the PADD for your use. I would like you to distribute them using the program you see open there."

As he spoke she turned on the PADD and began flicking through it, finding the essays and figuring out the best way to return the graded copies, an exceptionally easy process only requiring the entry of a simple command. This is more a challenge to get the Cadet using the program.

"Once you have done that I would like you to rewrite a test for me. You may recall the Advanced Phenology Midterm for your first year. I have already selected the material I would like this semester's Midterm to cover, you will see the compilation of the material on your PADD as well. I would like you format that into an administrable test in the next week. You will also see a record of my old tests so that you may maintain my preferred testing format and difficulty. If you have any questions about your assignments now would be the time to ask them."

Although Spock was aware he could sometime appear intimidating to the Cadets, particularly when assigning them work—he recalled Cadet Morrison has appear on the verge of tears when first given a similar assignment—but Cadet Uhura appear simply determined, almost angry. Her brows had furrowed and he saw her eyes working fast over the PADD's surface.

"No questions about the assignments, Commander. Is there anything else you would like to give me now?"

An interesting response: formatting the Midterm would already take her hours. Never one for social cues Spock wondered if perhaps the Cadet was employing the use of sarcasm, her expression, however, lead him to believe she was not. "Not at this time, Cadet, you are free to go."

"Thank you, Commander. This is really a great opportunity, I look forward to working with you." Again the smile was back as Ms. Uhura left his office. She appeared as though the prospect of hours of work excited her, something he found so rare among humans, particularly the every free time-seeking Cadets. Spock, deciding there could be little cause for the Cadet's apparent excitement, reflected on the good choice she would be for a Teaching Assistant. Perhaps he would be able to replace Cadet Morrison earlier than anticipated.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a Wednesday when Spock gave Cadet Uhura her assignments. Three hours later he saw on his own PADD that all assignments had been returned and began receiving pleas from students for higher scores or extra credit assignments. On Saturday afternoon he received a message from Cadet Uhura notifying him that the exam was prepared for his review. This was much earlier than anticipated seeing as Cadets generally took deadlines to mean the due date. He had given Cadet Morrison the same assignment for the Ethics class and had yet to receive any sign the fifth year had even open the exam materials list.

He responded that she should send it over at once for his approval. Unless there are serious changes needing to be made she should be prepared to send the approved file to the testing PADDs stored in his office on Monday morning after her morning classes.

This would give him the opportunity to look over the PADDS before the Exam on Friday to ensure none had been tampered with. Although Starfleet Cadets were held at a high esteem by most of their professors, Spock knew the temptations of cheating were an ever-present part of the human condition and refused to give any Teaching Assistant too much room to help their friend cheat.

Spock had received Cadet Uhura's message in his apartment while preparing for his weekend swim in the athletic complex pool and was on his way there now. Spock found all his athletic pursuits pleasantly logical, giving his body the sufficient work it needed and allowing his mind to process.

Today as he swam, in additional to the usual calculations of his physical work, Spock considered the idea of getting to know Cadet Uhura better so as to gauge her work ethic, already showing to be above average, and her trustworthiness, he did not like checking over his Assistant's work for sings of cheating. He decided that, as most Cadets find his presence unsettling and rather nerve-wracking, he would simply have to observe her behavior more closely so as to better understand her from afar.

When Monday afternoon came, Spock heard the familiar chime of his office door and beckoned for the Cadet to enter. She was holding the PADD Spock had given her for TA work and had her bag slung over her shoulder, weighed down with her school PADD and other work. The night before he had sent her his approved copy of the Midterm which he had found to be surprisingly not in need of many changes.

She appear excited, yet again, to be working on the test distribution, and indicated as much. Rather than greeting her commanding officer she began "Are these the testing PADDs, sir?" indicating a shelf built into the wall stacked with PADDs specially designed to prevent cheating during exams. There was a desk situated near these PADDs for Spock's TAs to work if they chose to do so in his office but few ever did when given the choice.

"Yes, Cadet, those are the PADDs. You may get to work if you wish."

He offered no direction, this would be an opportunity for her to work on problem-solving skills either by working on the problem herself or requesting the guidance of a commanding officer for guidance. Both are acceptable actions but idling doing nothing and looking at the task confused is not; it is, however, the reaction past students have had to similar requests.

Spock sat down at his desk and picked up his PADD, he had been reading a journal article about a new technology that could change the way circuitry in computer interfaces are laid out. Spock was considered incorporating the technology into the Enterprise's bridge interface.

He did not, however, go immediately back to reading but instead discreetly observed Cadet Uhura's work as she sat herself in the TA's desk and began working. Although the task was simple she had never used the program required for test distribution before and, much like those in primitive cultures first exposed to calculators, is expected to struggle a bit. He saw, however, that she was clearly on the right track and had already typed much of the proper command code into the program.

Spock has found that too many xenolinguistics-focus Cadets are lacking in other areas, particularly in their understanding of technology and computer sciences, his own focus at the Academy. He was pleased to see that Ms. Uhura appeared to be more proficient than many of her classmates is these fields.

After only a few minutes of working with the PADDs, the Cadet rose from her chair. "I think everything is all see for Friday, you may want to take a look though; I've never used this program before." Although there was some doubt in her voice, Ms. Uhura sounded confident that she had done the job well.

"Thank you, Cadet, but I don't believe that is necessary." He had decided that she was trustworthy enough for this. "You may go to lunch now if you wish."

"Thank you, Commander, I was just heading there. Would you care to join me?"

Interesting. He had never been asked to do anything social with a Cadet before. Although he was aware many professors saw their students outside of class, Spock himself had never done so. However, he had been planning on getting lunch after Cadet Uhura had finished her work and he saw no reason not to join her. "Yes, Cadet, that would be acceptable. Where you planning on eating in the Mess Hall?"

"I was, Commander, are you all set to go or do you have any work here you need to finish up first?" The Cadet did not seem dismayed he had accepted her invitation so Spock felt he has made the right decision.

"I am finished with the work I need to do for the time being, shall we go?" Spock proceeded towards the door, the Cadet following him. She then joined him by his side as they walked down the hall.

The two spoke little as they proceeded towards the Mess Hall and gathered their food. Spock replicated a bowl of Plomeek Soup and nutrient supplements while Cadet Uhura ordered an omelet from one of the dining stations. Spock met Ms. Uhura as the chef was handing her the omelet and the two walked together to a nearby table.

As they sat down Spock, wishing to make the prerequisite small talk, commented on Cadet Uhura's interesting choice of a breakfast food for lunch. "I like eggs and they're pretty good for you so why not?" she responded with a smile, taking her first bite.

As Spock began eating Cadet Uhura put her fork down and looked sheepishly up at him. "I hope you forgive me, Commander," she began "but I didn't ask you to lunch for purely social reasons. I was wondering if you would mind if I asked you a few questions about your latest paper on the way humans interact among Ferengi. They are a species we don't learn much about at the Academy but that I'm sure we will encounter more and more as their trade routes expand. I've started learning the language myself but I've found it rather difficult, given the unique mouth-shape of Ferengi, to get the exact sound right."

Spock, having never met with a student for purely social reasons was not initially surprise with the Cadet's spiel. He was, however, surprised that she asked to talk not about school work but about one of his papers, one of the less well-known at the Academy too. He was even more surprised to hear that she was attempting to learn a language not on the required or even recommended list for xenolinguistics Cadets. He found it curious that Ms. Uhura was consistently breaking the mold he had created of the usual Cadet.

"Yes I agree. The Ferengi are very social and likely to interact a great deal with Federation ships as we explore more into their trading sectors. It has long been a belief of mine that the Academy attempt to prepare Cadets better with skills they are likely to need in the future, even if they are not necessarily the ones they need now. How long have you been working on the language?"

"Only a few months, I would have liked to have made more progress but I've been busy with classes and Xenolinguistics club and now TA-ing. I'll make time though." Her last sentence seemed almost wistful, as if all she wanted were more free time to take up with extra language work, fascinating. Perhaps, Spock thought to himself, this cadet is worth getting to know better.


	3. Chapter 3

During his morning run the next day Spock reflected on his conversation with Cadet Uhura. It was perhaps the longest Spock has ever spent on lunch. They talked about everything from Spock's research to their childhoods. The Cadet was surprisingly knowledgeable about his work, having read nearly all of his papers. In addition to his study of Ferengi societal norms, Ms. Uhura was interested in his work with other cultures. Then she asked about his own culture, apparently looking for a greater insight into Vulcan interactions as they pertain to her communications officer training. Somehow, however, the conversation turned startlingly personal with Spock sharing aspects of his childhood he had not volunteer to another human before. Of course, he had never spoken with another human for so long before about anything other than official Star Fleet business.

He told her of some of the difficulties he faced as a child and she shared her own childhood experiences with the cruelties of other children her age. That said, Spock's idea of sharing a great deal about himself did not appear to align with hers. Ms. Uhura spoke about her family, how close she is to her parents. She even offered to teach him Swahili, her native language, in her spare time and, although he had never considered learning an additional earth language before, found the prospect appealing.

More surprising, he did not find himself intellectually stilted by the need to make human small talk. Instead their conversations were deep and stimulating, there was genuine rapport. He was not lecturing her as he did in conversation with many Cadets and she was not attempting to avoid intellectual topics. He even found himself wishing to continue the conversation past lunch but, unfortunately (another startling sentiment for Spock), the Cadet has a class to attend and Spock had research and work for the _Enterprise_ to attend to. Perhaps they would be able to continue their conversation today, both Cadets Uhura and Morrison were to report to his office at the end of their 4:00 classes today. They had been given two week to write up evaluations of his students' work as feedback he could distribute and wanted to look over their progress.

After completing his run, Spock proceeded with his normal routine: he showered and shaved, made breakfast, read one of the scientific journals he subscribed to cover to cover, and arrived in his classroom at 8:15 to prepare his 8:30 lecture. Spock's two classes were scheduled back-to-back, enabling him to dedicate his entire afternoon to research and other First Officer duties.

At the conclusion of his second class, promptly at 11:15, Spock made his way to his office upstairs for some light work before lunch. This was his routine every Tuesday and Friday for the past year so he was surprised to find Ms. Uhura waiting for him outside his office.

"Cadet, I was not expecting to see you until after 5:15. Is there anything I can help you with?" Spock realized after the fact he had not used the usual human greeting he had adopted out of cultural obligation. He simply did not feel as obligated to follow his standard human interaction protocols with the Cadet and she had already shown she was not offended by such actions.

"Yes I'm sorry, Commander, I hope I'm not keeping you but I was wondering if you minded if I showed you what I have for my evaluations so far. I just want to make sure they're what you were expecting."

"Certainly, Cadet. Please follow me," Spock replied, leading her into his office.

Spock sat down at his desk, preparing to work, while she took a seat at the TA desk again and pulled out her PADD. After tapping it a few times she stood back up and handed it to Spock. He read over her evaluations and saw that they were indeed exactly what he had instructed.

"Very good, Cadet. These will do nicely, you do not need to come in again after your last class if you do not wish. You are dismissed," he told her, handing the PADD back.

"Thank you, Commander, but do you mind if I work here for a bit. The library is all the way across campus and I wanted to get some work done and still have time for lunch."

"Of course, Cadet. Please feel free to use this office as much as you need for TA work." He had always allowed his TAs the option of working in his office but none had ever chosen to do so before, at least not when he was there. He was pleased to see that she was so dedicated to her work though.

Ms. Uhura took her seat and continued working on the evaluations while Spock opened the code he was working on for the computer science exam, a class he did not teach due to the time commitment associated with it but was often asked to assist with.

After forty-five minutes of working Spock found himself at a good place to stop for lunch. When he looked up from his screen he saw the Ms. Uhura had shifted in her chair so that her legs were pulled up under her, a slightly unseemly position given the length of her uniform skirt although she seemed unaware of this fact. As Spock stood for lunch Ms. Uhura looked up from her work.

"Are you heading to lunch, Commander?"

"Yes, Cadet. Feel free to continue working if you wish." Even as he offered her the chance to keep working she began packing up her work.

"I actually have to get going to lunch as well if I want to have time to eat before my 1:00 class. Can I join you again?"

"Of course, Cadet." Spock considered that this would give them the chance to continue their conversation for the previous day.

The two started walking out the office door and down the hall. "Commander, I was wondering if I could keep picking your brain about your research."

Despite the usage of the human idiom Spock found the suggestion pleasing and in line with his own thoughts. "I would enjoy that very much, Cadet."

Again they spent the lunch period discussing languages, cultures, and their unique interests.

"Commander," Ms. Uhura began "I hope you don't find my suggestion offensive but I was wondering if you would mind if we continued our conversation in Vulcan. I have so few opportunities to use the language here as so few second year Cadets have learned it yet and I would love the feedback of a native speaker on my pronunciation."

"_That would be acceptable, Cadet. Please continue, I would very much like to hear more about this Cadet Gaila, she sounds like a difficult person to live with._" It was an interesting sensation to speak casually in his native language, at the Academy if he speaks anything other than Standard it is likely for teaching purposes.

"_Oh yes Gaila can be a bit difficult but I think we've started to come to an understanding. She always lets me know when she will be having friends over and she's gotten better about keeping the noise down when I'm studying_." Her accent was quite good for someone not exposed to the language often but not entirely surprising as she taught herself from recordings by native Vulcans.

"_I am glad you two have come to an agreement then_." The rest of their lunch continued in Vulcan until Spock once again had to return to his work and Ms. Uhura had to leave for her afternoon classes. The two continued their conversation on their way out of the mess hall.

"_I appreciate the opportunity to speak in Vulcan, Cadet. It is so rare I can use my own dialect, I am sure you have the same sentiment about your own native language_."

"_Yes I thought that might be the case, Commander. It was part of why I offered_." At that last a slight blush spread across her cheeks. Fascinating, not only did she just admit to having made a gesture of kindness to him but appeared to be embarrassed by admitting to as much.

"_I thank you, Cadet. It was a very considerate gesture_."

"_Commander, I'm not sure if you've ever visited the place before, but there is a wonderful Vulcan restaurant in the city. I would highly recommend it if you were ever feeling homesick or, well, if you ever wanted to get a taste of home_." She seemed to realize that, as a Vulcan, I could not feel homesick as humans do but that, yes, I may be interested in sampling a wider selection of my own cuisine than the mess hall offers.

"_I was not aware there was such a place, I will investigate it further_." Here they paused. "I hope the rest of your day is enjoyable, Cade."

"Thank you, Commander. You too." She began to turn before adding "and I think I will stop by your office later to work if that is acceptable to you."

"Yes, Cadet, that is acceptable. I will see you then." They then turned from each other and headed off for their own work.

* * *

As a quick note, the italicized text indicated non-English speech. Let me know how you like everything so far!


	4. Chapter 4

Just as she said she would, Cadet Uhura arrived in Spock's office at 5:25 just as Cadet Morrison was leaving. They greeted each other briefly, apparently previously acquainted, before Mr. Morrison walked out through the automatic doors. Spock was working on his code from that afternoon but paused briefly to greet the Cadet as she entered and took her seat.

"Hello, Cadet. I trust your classes were enjoyable. I have a great deal of work to do but feel free to make use of my replicator, it can only produce molecularly simple foods but can be useful for light meals."

"Thank you, Commander. I have a lot of work to get to myself."

With that they lapsed into silence and worked on their respective assignments. After an hour of coding Spock decided to make himself a simple meal from the in-office replicator primarily intended for coffee. As he typed the information into the interface Cadet Uhura looked up.

She saw the codes and asked "Commander, would it be alright if you replicated the same for me? I would rather not make another trip to the mess hall and interrupt my working too much."

"Certainly, Cadet. May I ask what you are working on?" The first tray appeared with a glass of water, apple, and simple salad. He brought the tray to her and began replicating his own meal.

"Thank you and you may, Commander. It's an assignment for one of my Command courses. We are supposed to respond to a series of situational prompts like 'The ship is severely damaged, if you send the crew to emergency pods many will live but if you attempt to correct for the damage nearly all will live. What do you do?' I'm writing out pretty detail responses so it's taking me quite a while."

Spock carried his own tray to his desk. "It is good that you are giving such detailed responses, these are not questions answered simply. They involve the contemplation of life a death, they deserve much thought not quick answers."

"That's my thinking," she replied through a bite of apple. "I don't know if I'd ever be fit for a major command posting though, there is so much pressure just in a hypothetical much less the real thing."

"I do not know that I agree. You are intelligent and, as far as I can tell, level-headed. I believe you would do well in command." At this Ms. Uhura smiled and looked down to maneuver a forkful of salad.

Spock realized she would perceive his analysis of her abilities as a complement. He did not know how he felt about this. His deductions were logical but offering humans complements can be a dangerous endeavor.

"Thank you, Commander. I'm glad you feel that way." Once again they lapsed into silence and continued working while they eat.

Spock was almost finished with his coding for the night when a Red Alert Alarm sounded. Both he and Cadet Uhura leapt up in response. It was not entirely uncommon for the Academy to run Red Alert drills for both security and training purposes but they were always rather inconvenient. It was already late, nearly 11:00, and now Spock would not be able to return to his quarters for meditation until 11:45 at the earliest if the duration of prior drills was any indication of this one.

"This way, Cadet Uhura," he said leading her to the corner of the room. As they were not in a setting that existed on a Star Ship their duty was to take cover in some capacity. The idea here was that, in the event of a threat to the Academy, the student body would be prepared with safety measures in place.

Spock began pushing the corner of his desk so that there was only a small triangle of space between it and the wall. Ms. Uhura looked confused by his actions so he explained. "There is protocol for how to react to a Red Alert for every office given the dimensions, this is the protocol for this office."

He then jumped over his own desk, careful not to disturb any of his work. "We are supposed to crouch behind the desk and make the room appear empty." Even as he said this he saw the problem here, this was a very small space so that as they slid down they would have to be in contact of some kind.

Spock prepared himself mentally for the proximity of another's mind and proceeded to sit beside Ms. Uhura, backs against the wall, arms touching.

"Well this is interesting," Ms. Uhura said with a smile. "Oh sorry, I was being sarcastic I didn't realize for a moment. This is in fact a strange situation."

"Indeed," was all he said, slightly perturbed she felt the need to apologize for her way of speaking. "Cadet I do not wish for you to feel the need to apologize, you have done nothing wrong. Feel free to employ the use of sarcasm as you see fit."

With a slight laugh and a smile Ms. Uhura looked up at him. "Thank you, Commander. I will be sure to keep that in mind."

They sat in silence for a moment before Cadet Uhura spoke up. "Do you want to play Twenty Questions?"

"I'm afraid I do not know what that is," Spock responded, puzzled.

"Oh it's easy and super fun. One person thinks of something, anything, and the other person can ask them twenty questions to try to figure out what it is. Do you want to try?"

Not one for games but also not wishing to appear rude Spock considered the offer. He realized that if he rejected her offer she would likely be upset. He did not want to upset her so he accepted.

Ms. Uhura asked her questions first, the answer was a gauge boson. Next it was his turn and the answer was antimatter chamber. Then tungsten carbide, then communicator. For each questions Ms. Uhura became both more serious in her considerations and more relaxed in her behavior, laughing at each answer. It was as Ms. Uhura was questions him about dilithium crystals the Red Alert was called off.

As the stood and prepared to slide the desk back into place Ms. Uhura laughed. "That is perhaps the most scientific and intelligent game of Twenty Questions I've ever played. I had fun. Thanks for making that Red Alert not suck. Commander," she added as an afterthought.

"Yes I too found the game rather enjoyable. Surprising but the game is, at heart, an intellectual pursuit so perhaps logical that it would be pleasing. Thank you, Cadet." He looked at the time and saw it was nearly midnight. "Perhaps you should return to your quarters."

"Yes I'm pretty tired. I got most of my assignment done and it's not due for another week so I guess I was pretty productive this evening, all things considered. Goodnight, Commander." With that Ms. Uhura left his office.

It had certainly been a strange evening. He could have continued coding during the Red Alert but chose not to. Certainly it was a more logical pursuit to entertain the Cadet he would need to work with and spare her feelings had he rejected her offer of a game. Yes, he concluded that he had behaved logically.

However, on his walk back, he recalled a point where he had asked "Can it be repurposed to power a small craft?" and Ms. Uhura had laughed so hard her eyes began to water. (This was the communicator answer.) He had been fascinated by her laughter.

His mother rarely laughed, such a thing would have been frowned upon by other Vulcan, but he did not recall, on the few occasions she did laugh, that he had been so intrigued. Now he felt as though he were proud to have been the source of her amusement, an emotional sentiment. Worse yet he found himself wishing to hear her laughter again, wishing to see her smile and her eye light up. Now that he thought of it her eyes were particularly pleasing, almond shaped and deep brown.

These were dangerous feelings he was having. Mediation would have to be particularly long tonight.


	5. Chapter 5

That night Spock found meditation more difficult than usual. His thoughts were strangely occupied by Ms. Uhura. She was smart, he found conversation with her stimulating, and she was not repelled or intimidated by his behavior. At the same time he could not keep himself from remembering the way her eyes had lit up when she laughed or how comfortable he had felt during the Red Alert despite their close proximity; he normally was so uncomfortable with physical contact with humans.

By the time he felt his emotions were under control it was late in the night and, despite his healthy emotional, or rather unemotional state, he was still unable to keep this thoughts entirely from the Cadet. He felt the need to know her better, he already knew a bit about her childhood and had hear about some of her interests but he was interested in learning more. What did she think about her professors? What were her favorite classes? What had she thought of _his_ classes? What did she think of him?

Never one kept awake deep in thought, Spock drifted off to sleep quickly still thinking about the Cadet.

* * *

By Friday Spock had not worked out the best course of action as to how to handle his interest in the Cadet. He felt certain that, through his nightly meditation, he had purged the emotions he had initially felt towards her but he was still unable to keep her from his thoughts. He, to put it simply, wanted to talk to her. She was fascinating and he had enjoyed their conversations. The feeling was entirely foreign to him.

He was pondering his best course of action while walking the lobby of the officer's quarters building to meet Captain Pike. They meet every Friday night to go over plans for the _Enterprise_ and check in on the progress of construction. For some reason Captain Pike insisted they have these meetings in social settings—Spock suspected the reason was to encourage him to socialize with the Cadets and other offices they always ran into.

This particular night they would be going to one of the more high-end bars near campus that didn't usually get too loud for conversations. There was not much for them to go over this week which made the location not entirely impractical.

Shortly after Spock had arrived in the lobby Captain Pike entered. "Are you ready to go, Spock? Command Center awaits." The Captain appeared amused by the name of the club despite the confusion it could create when referring to a real Command Center.

"Yes, Captain, I will follow you."

The two began walking while Captain Pike filled Spock in on his most recent updates about the _Enterprise_. Apparently construction was once again on schedule after a slight delay the month before due to the discovery of some poor welding work. When they reached the club, Captain Pike found them a table and they ordered their drinks, two Bajoran ales. Spock, although unable to become intoxicated by alcohol, generally followed the Captain's lead in ordering so as to fit the social setting best.

"I have done some reading on the latest technology in computer interface circuitry and have some new ideas about the design for Bridge interfaces. I will be submitting them to the _Enterprise_ computer construction team once I have completed the new designs." Spock liked to give his report to the Captain before they'd had too many drinks and communication became more difficult.

"Very good, Spock, very good I'll leave that up to you. Are there any other changes you've considered to the Bridge layout, this ship will be the model for those to come after and I want everything to be as user-friendly as possible."

"There are no other changes in addition to the 212 I have already submitted that I would recommend at this time."

"Wonderful, well I've already updated you on the ship's progress and I have nothing else Command-related so let's make this a social visit shall we. How have your classes been going, any promising new students. I hear you've been programming for the computer science department again."

"Yes the department requested I make up their Midterm examination. As for my own classes, this semester's student body has received an average grade .04 percent higher than last semester's, promising work only half way through the semester."

"I'm glad to hear that, Spock. Have you found a new TA yet?"

At the mention of Spock's new TA he found his thoughts immediately snap to Ms. Uhura. "Yes, I found a promising second year, a Cadet Uhura." The conversation continued in a similar fashion: Captain Pike asking Spock questions about his courses and Spock responding in his own concise way until, eventually, Spock saw that social protocol dictated he ask the Captain a few questions of his own. Every so often their conversation would be interrupted by officers or Cadets greeting the Captain and engaging in light small talk before moving on.

After a the Captain had consumed four beers and Spock three, Spock felt it was socially acceptable that he bid the Captain farewell. It was already nearly 11:00 and an old friend of the Captian's had stopped by their table for a deep conversation about a woman named Charlotte when Spock stood to leave.

"As usual, Captain, it has been a pleasure but I must be getting back to my quarters."

"Yes of course, Spock, I am glad we had this time to talk. I will send you a message in the next few days about next week. I'll see you then." With that the Captain returned to his conversation with the officer and Spock turned to leave.

When he was half way back to campus he passed a particularly rowdy group of Cadets leaving one of the more crowded bars. Among them he saw not only Cadet Morrison but Cadet Uhura as well. She was walking arm-in-arm with an Orion woman, presumable her roommate Gaila, and laughing with Mr. Morrison over something he had said.

The image was surprisingly unpleasant. Ms. Uhura appeared happy and she was laughing, a sound that had been captivating him for days, but something was different here.

As he approached them Cadet Morrison saw Spock first and immediately stiffened, apparently trying to look respectable despite his obvious intoxication.

"Good evening, Commander," he said formally. It was then that Ms. Uhura looked up and saw Spock herself. Rather than react as Mr. Morrison did she turned to Gaila, said something to her, and walked over to join him.

"Hello, Commander. Where are you coming from tonight?" She was slightly flushed, there was some moisture on her forehead, and her hair was worn down but messy. She appeared to be focusing on him very intently, smiling brightly. Her friends kept walking ahead of them, talking loudly and walked all over the wide Academy sidewalk as they entered campus

"I was meeting with _Enterprise_ Captain Pike at Command Center two blocks away."

"Oh I _love_ that place," Ms. Uhura said, putting her hand on his arm and turning herself towards him, apparently trying to convey her enjoyment of Command Center.

"Yes it is sufficient for moderate conversation and the food and drink selection is well diversified." He was unsure how to behavior towards the Cadet in her drunken state and was concerned by the unsteadiness of her walk. The heels she was wearing did not seem to help the situation.

"Yeah that's what I thought too," she responded, somewhat absentmindedly, looking down at her feet to steady her step.

"Do you need any assistance, Cadet?"

"Yeah um, no I think I'm okay I just need a minute," she said, voice somewhat weaker as she made her way to a nearby bench. She sat, or rather fell onto, the bench and bent her head over her, looking at her feet. "I just kind of don't feel great."

Concerned that she was suffering from alcohol poisoning, not uncommon among the Cadets on weekends, Spock sat beside her on the bench. "Do you need medical assistance, Cadet."

"No I don't think so," she sighed "just give me a minute." She leaned back on the bench and closed her eyes. "Have you ever been drunk before, Commander Spock? Vulcans get drunk from chocolate, right? That would be nice, better than the taste of alcohol."

She appeared to be rambling but, wanting to keep her engaged, he responded anyway. "No, Cadet, I never have been 'drunk' but yes chocolate is an intoxicant for Vulcans." She appeared to be falling asleep so he continued to keep her awake. "Where we you this evening, Cadet? I saw you were with Cadet Morrison, are the two of you friends?" The image of Ms. Uhura laughing with Mr. Morrison came to mind and he was again displeased by it.

"Oh yeah I went out with Gaila and she knows Morrison. Kyle," she laughed slightly as though Cadet Morrison's first name were a joke. "Yeah I don't know where we were but it was crowded and we danced and it was super hot" Her speech was full of pauses for breath as though she needed to consciously take pauses for oxygen. "I like dancing, Commander. And music. I sing you know. Do you like music? Wait, do you dance?" she sat up suddenly, apparently excited by the though.

"I find music pleasing if that is what you mean, Cadet. I, however, have never danced before."

"What? You've never dance. Wait, yeah, I knew that. Vulcans wouldn't just dance. You should try it though, very fun and I guess it's kind of a workout so it's logical too." Although clearly having trouble processing her thoughts she appeared to be more aware of her surroundings, having taken some time to sit down, and was more focused on him than before.

"I will take that into consideration, Cadet. Are you able to return to your quarters now?"

"Yes I think so, thank you for waiting here with me. I told my friends to go ahead without me." She began to stand up, not entirely steady on her heeled shoes, and walk towards the student quarters.

"Why did you not wish to accompany them to campus? Were they not returning to their quarters?"

"No, they were, but I wanted to walk back with you," she said with a small smile.

"Why did you wish to accompany me? If you would permit me, I would like to walk you back to your quarters but previously you had no reason to think we would be heading towards the same destination."

"You were walking by yourself," she said, a note of sadness in her voice. "I didn't want you to be alone. It's Friday night, you should be walking with a friend," she smiled.

"We are friends?" he said, not realizing the implications of his questions before speaking. Ms. Uhura's smile did not falter, however; she appeared to have understood that he simply was curious.

"I think so. I like you, Commander Spock. We have good conversations." Despite her intoxicated state he found that he agreed with her analysis of their interactions. If what she had said constituted friendship than, yes, he supposed they were friends. Fascinating.

At this point they had reached the entrance to the student quarters. As they crossed the lobby to the turbo lift Ms. Uhura stoped and turned to Spock.

"I think we should go dancing, Mr. Spock," she said, dropping his title. "I think you would be a good dancer." Strange, despite her knowledge that Vulcans do not dance she invited him to do so anyway. Additionally, he had never been invited to do anything social with anyone other than Captain Pike before.

"Oooh and we should go to that Vulcan restaurant, I love their pok tar and they have great spice tea!" Again, Ms. Uhura appeared strangely excited by a rather ordinary topic and, again, she had extended an invitation to him. Curious.

Ms. Uhura smiled at him before putting her arm on his shoulder. "Well goodnight, Mr. Spock." She lightly moved her hand on his arm then turned to board the lift.

Spock stood for a moment after the lift doors had closed and attempted to process what had happened in just the last thirty minutes. The Cadet he had spent so much of the last week thinking about had invited him to go dancing and to dinner. Stranger still she had chosen to walk back with him.

He turned and began walking to his own quarters. She had not wanted him to walk back by himself apparently thinking he was lonely. Despite the inaccuracy of her assumption he recognized the implicit kindness of the gesture. It was so rare people at the Academy went out of their way to be kind to him the way they did with humans. While the kindness of colleagues was not something he required, he understood the significance: that people did not generally consider him the way they considered humans—their equals. He found he was greatly pleased by her gesture of kindness.

Then there was the idea of actually going dancing or to dinner with the Cadet. While he would never dance, doing so was terribly illogical, he had already decided he would try the Vulcan restaurant and found that he would much enjoy eating with Ms. Uhura. Perhaps he should take her up on the latter offer.

As he neared his quarters, Spock began to realize he was thinking illogically of Ms. Uhura. Getting dinner with her was not logical, he could discuss her responsibilities as his TA in his office at any time and there was no other reason they needed to converse. Engaging with her at the occasional lunch had been logical as it offered a way for her to become more comfortable with him but there was no need to expand their relationship. Yet he _wanted_ to, he _wanted_ to spend more time with her. He found her presence pleasing.

Then there was the more troubling matter of his reaction to Ms. Uhura speaking with Mr. Morrison. He had been displeased yet there was no reason for such a reaction except that he did not like seeing Ms. Uhura laugh at someone else. He had been pleased when she laughed with him. No these were feelings he would have to sort out in yet more meditation.


	6. Chapter 6

When Spock had returned from his weekend swim the next morning he checked his messages, seeing he had three since learning his quarters. Two were department memos notifying the faculty of two separate disciplinary hearings, one for violation of community standards (the Cadet had been arrested the night before) and one for a cheating violation involving the Cadet failing to cite half of his sources. The third was a message from Cadet Uhura.

The message was fairly long given the state she was likely in that morning and exceptionally detailed. Apparently she had visited his quarters while he was out to communicate the message personally but, when he wasn't there, decided to write it to him. In the message she apologized profusely for her behavior the night before and assure Spock it would never happen again. She explained, although he already knew, that the cause was intoxication which was not an excuse as she had made the conscious choice to become intoxicated.

She concluded the message by saying:

I understand that my behavior was entirely inappropriate and I hope you will forgive me, particularly for my disrespectful attitude towards your Vulcan heritage. I would not expect you to behave illogically as I so rudely said you should. Please disregard my demand for your company dancing and dining, I was wrong to have made such a request of you. Sincerest apologies, Cadet Uhura.

After reading the conclusion of Ms. Uhura's message, Spock paused. Had had put a great deal of thought into her offer to go to dinner with him and had decided it was something he wanted to do. He had not yet decided if it was an offer he would accept as he felt it was rather illogical yet he felt displeased. He had wanted to join her for dinner and now would be unable to. He had wanted the certainty of having plans to speak with her in the future outside of her present TA duties. Now that prospect was gone and he had not even decided how he, as a Vulcan, should have reacted to it. He felt emotional, he felt disappointed.

Spock was quickly realizing that meditation was only a temporary solution to the rise of emotions he had been feeling in regards to Cadet Uhura. In just the last twenty-four hours he had felt what he has since decided was anger at seeing Ms. Uhura with Mr. Morrison, happiness at seeing Ms. Uhura smile and laugh, and now disappointment that he would not be able to spend more social time with her.

Granted these had been, by human standards, very slight emotional responses but, for Spock or any Vulcan, were reason for concern. He should not be behaving in such a way, he was above these emotional swings.

He enjoyed Ms. Uhura's company, not illogical as preferring one person over another is perfectly logical, and wanted to see more of her. What was illogical, however, was how he was reacting and that was something he could work to change. Given this logic he was well within reason to desire more time with Ms. Uhura, after all they were friends.

Having reached this conclusion, Spock turned to his screen and dictated a message requesting a meeting with Ms. Uhura go discuss the incident in his office at 3:00. He felt confident he was doing the logical thing as it was entirely logical to wish to spend time with someone he felt intellectually stimulating and whose personality he found pleasing.

After sending his message, Spock showed and began looking over the Advanced Phenology Midterm the previous morning. Although he would pass them along to his TAs to grade he wanted to skim over them a bit to get an idea of how the class had done. It appeared this class had fared no better than last semester's. Spock then spent the rest of the afternoon reading more of his journal subscriptions, these centered on xenoculture. At 2:45 Spock left for his office to meet with the Cadet. Although he had not planned on working there today he thought it the best place to meet with Ms. Uhura.

Shortly after he arrived he heard the chime of the door. "Come," he called and Ms. Uhura entered. She was dressed in workout pants, the first time he had ever seen her in anything other than a dress, and a large sweater. She also looked rather tired, not surprising given her state the previous night.

"Please sit, Cadet." He offered her the chair opposite his desk, reminiscent of when he first called her to his office.

"Commander, before you say anything, I just want to apologize in person for my behavior. It was entirely unprofessional and inappropriate and I would entirely understand if you wish to find another TA." She seemed to really mean her words and to be truly regretful of her actions.

"That will not be necessary, Cadet, and is not exactly what I asked to meet you." A surprised, and somewhat relieved, look crossed her face and he continued. "I called you here because you have mentioned a Vulcan restaurant to me twice now, once when we first eat lunch together and once last night. In addition, you invited me to join you there last night." She frowned slightly, apparently confused.

"Although you have since rescinded that invitation I found the suggestion appealing. Therefor I would like to ask you would join me at this Vulcan restaurant tonight. I have done some research and believe I have found it, is it called 'ShirKahr Dining'?"

At first Ms. Uhura appear somewhat speechless, for a moment Spock was concerned he had offended her by asking her to dinner. Perhaps she truly did not want to dine with him, hence her rescinding the invitation. When she finally did respond Spock found he had been slightly nervous for her answer.

"Yes that is the restaurant," she began before pausing, considering her next words. "Commander, before I say anything I just want to ask why you are inviting me to dinner. I'm sorry, that sounded rude, but I must have gravely offended you last night and now you are seeking out my company. I suppose I am curious about your logic," she said with a slight smile at the phrasing of her last comment.

"Well, Cadet, I happen to enjoy your company. I find our conversations stimulating and last night we established that we are friends. I would like to continue that friendship by having dinner."

"So we would be getting dinner as friends?" she asked rather uncertainly.

"Yes, Cadet, that is my hope if you chose to join me."

"The yes," she said confidently "yes, I accept your invitation to dinner."

"Excellent," Spock said, more content now that she had agreed to dinner with him. "Would you like to meet at the Main Entrance at 7:00? I believe it is not a far walk from there?"

"Yes, Commander, 7:00 is perfect and no the walk isn't far."

"All right, Cadet, I will see you then. Dismissed."

She stood somewhat uncertainly, as though she were surprised he was dismissing her. Nevertheless she made her way to his office door and left, looking at her watch before leaving and appearing to do some quick calculations in her head.

Spock arrived at the Main Entrance gate just as Cadet Uhura was walking up to it. She was again wearing very high heels and a dress, this one made from a shimmery champagne fabric. He found the effect of her outfit aesthetically pleasing.

When she reached him they greeted each other and began walking to ShirKahr Dining. Spock allowed Ms. Uhura to set the pace as she was walking slightly more slowly than usual in her impractical footwear. As they walked Spock asked Ms. Uhura about her week aside from the time he had spent with her. She energetically described her classes to him which had apparently been particularly stimulating as of late and she was happy to share her assessment of the courses.

After they arrived at the restaurant and were seated, she asked him about his own week and what he had been working on. He told her of the journal articles he had found particularly enlightening and of his work for the _Enterprise_.

Gradually their conversation morphed into the interests they shared. He found that they both were accomplished musicians, him in the Vulcan lute and her in singing, as she had shared the previous night, and enjoyed the same genre of music. They also had similar reading interests, both enjoying Earth historical fiction and Vulcan poetry.

As they eat they continues sharing their interests. "Yes I have always found Vulcan poetry to be fascinating in its accomplished complexity despite often describing this in such logical terms. What drew you to the genre, Cadet Uhura?"

"I wish you wouldn't use my rank here, Sir," she said and, given her expression, she had not considered her words before saying them. "What I mean is that we are sharing a meal as friends, Commander, and I would prefer that you not refer to me as 'Cadet' in such a setting. Apologies, Commander, please continue as you feel is appropriate."

Spock considered this, he would not want to call her 'Cadet' if she did not wish to be called 'Cadet' but by that logic she should not be calling him 'Commander', and interesting conundrum.

"Very well, I will not use your title here but then you should not use mine. This is a casual social visit and you may simply call me Spock, what should I call you?"

Ms. Uhura smiled at Spock's agreeing to her request. "Most people at the Academy call my Uhura but my first name is Nyota, you can use that if you like."

"Very well, Nyota, you never answered my question: what drew you to the genre of Vulcan poetry?"

Nyota laughed, that sounds Spock found so pleasing, and replied that she began reading it to help her study of the language.

They continued their conversation long after they had finished eating discussing books, poetry, music, languages, cultures, computer science, the _Enterprise_, and their reasons for joining Star Fleet. Even when they disagreed, like when Nyota insisted a Talarian band that she liked was excellent when Spock found their music to be rather grating on the ears, they did so with understanding and respect for each other's opinion.

Having spent an hour seating without ordering Nyota suggested they continue their conversation outside. Although it was rather cool out the weather was not so unpleasant that they felt the need to return to campus just yet. Instead they walked along the water for a bit talking about their home worlds. Spock found that Nyota seemed to truly understand how he felt about Vulcan—it was a place he would like to return to as it is the climate he will always be most comfortable in but he is content to be elsewhere—which should not have been much of a surprise considering how well she seemed to understand his over thoughts.

When Spock saw that Nyota was getting cold, thought she did not mention it, he suggested they start walking back to campus. Just as he had the night before, Spock walked her to the turbo lift in the student quarters building. When they came to a stop just outside the doors, Spock noticed Nyota looked somewhat uncomfortable.

"Well, Spock, here we are. I really enjoyed dinner and walking around."

"Yes, I too found the evening pleasing. As you said the pok tar was quite good, very authentic to Vulcan cuisine."

Again Nyota looked around awkwardly before speaking. "I, well, umm, would you like to come upstairs?" She seemed unsure of her offer even as she made it, as though she were doing so out of curtesy or because it was his expectation. "For a drink or something," she attempted to clarify.

Spock, meanwhile, was surprised by the offer, he had felt his eyebrows shoot up as she had spoken. "No, Nyota, thank you, but I do not believe that would be appropriate. I hope you have a pleasant rest."

"Commander," she called as he turned to leave. She saw using his title, apparently their friendly evening had ended; they were once again Commander and Cadet. "I was wondering when you like me to report next for work. I was hoping I could use your office as a work place Monday afternoon if that is acceptable, you could give me my assignment then."

Although they were again speaking about work, her tone was still friendly: not the formal one she used with other officers, or with him just that afternoon, but the one she had used over dinner when talking about Talarian electronic rock.

"Yes, Cadet, Monday afternoon is acceptable. I will see you then."

"See you then, Commander," she said with a smile, turning towards the lift as he turned towards the exit.

On his walk back he thought of little other than his evening with the Cadet, with Nyota. She had told him her name means "star" in Swahili and the knowledge that the language was such a large part of her identity made him even more interested in learning it from her.

He was still startled, however, by the idea that she had invited him up to her room. Yes this had been a friendly encounter but he was still her commanding officer and such actions were highly inappropriate. But, as he thought about her expression when she asked him to her room, he began to wonder if he had done something to lead her to believe _he_ wanted to visit her room.

He had behaved no differently than he usually did around her but was worried her had perhaps said something she misunderstood. Whatever the cause for her behavior he was fairly certain she would not make a similar offer again.

As he entered his quarters and prepared for meditation he thought about their plans for Monday. Well, he admitted, him approving her request to work in his office hardly constituted friendly plans together, but it would still give them the opportunity to interact. Yes, in fact, he would invite her to lunch again.

As Spock steeled into his mediation position on the floor he felt the stirrings of something strange. An emotional response for sure but not anger or jealousy, something else. He believed it was happiness at the prospect of seeing Nyota again. Fascinating, dangerous, but fascinating.


	7. Chapter 7

Just as Nyota had said she would, she came by Spock's office Monday afternoon. They spoke briefly before each turning to their own work. When Spock stood to leave for lunch he invited Nyota to join him. She accepted and again they spent their lunch break talking about languages and cultures. Nyota began teaching Spock the basics of Swahili, pointing out various objects in the mess hall and giving him the word for them.

As they prepared to head their separate ways Nyota turned to him. "Same time tomorrow then? If I can use your office I mean."

"Cadet, I hope that you will feel comfortable using my office whenever you need a space to work. I will calibrate the door to recognize your access code. And yes, I would like to do this again tomorrow."

She smiled, "Thank you, Commander. I'll see you tomorrow."

On Tuesday when Nyota came to his office to work she did not have to chime the door and instead walked into the now familiar space. Spock was pleased to see her again.

Shortly before he left for lunch he looked up from his work to see her studying. She was absentmindedly chewing on her stylus and had pulled her feet up under her as she always did when working. Her eyes were intently focused on her PADD as she worked out the problem in front of her. Spock thought she looked like the image of focus and grace and he was glad she wanted to study with him.

They continued this routine of working in his office for an hour then heading to lunch together for the next three weeks. He was steadily building a Swahili vocabulary and her accent, not only in Vulcan but the other languages she knew, was improving as they conversed in them more.

Spock was realizing, however, that his friendship with Nyota was the closest he had ever been to another person. His relationship with Captain Pike, while pleasing to Spock, was very different. Spock was comfortable sharing aspects of his life, and even Vulcan culture, with Nyota he had never shared with anyone, even his mother whom he was still close with.

The Saturday before Thanksgiving break Spock returned from his swim with a message from Nyota. She explained that, as she would be leaving for Africa the following day, she wanted to bring him her work that evening when she had fished packing. Although he never liked the idea of these short breaks in the school year as they disrupt the routine of the semester, he was particularly displeased by the idea of spending a week without speaking with Nyota. She was a part of his daily routine, eating lunch with her on weekdays and messaging about work on weekends. She had taken over nearly all the TA work from Cadet Morrison who had begun to fall into what the Cadets referred to, despite the misnomer, as the Senior Slumps, a time when fifth year Cadets' work begins to slip as they prepare for graduation.

As Spock considered the time they would soon spend apart he got an idea. His quarters were equipped with a moderately sized kitchenette where he made dinner for himself every night, typically a Vulcan dish from his childhood. He had mentioned to Nyota many times before that he often made Vulcan food and she had always expressed interested in trying his cooking.

Spock also knew that the mess hall would be closing at 3:00 that afternoon as most Cadets, and many human officers, had already left for the break. Deciding he would give her a nice sendoff before her trip home, Spock began dictating a message to Nyota inviting her to meet him in the officer's quarters lobby at 5:00.

As Spock rode the turbo lift into the lobby he wondered how he should feel about inviting a Cadet up to his quarters. He was aware she had visited his quarters before—when she had attempted to apologize the day they went to ShirKahr Dining—and other Cadets had sought him out here before for assistance on last minute assignments but never before had a Cadet actually entered his quarters.

He knew that, under normal circumstances, such an action would be perceived as unprofessional but that his intentions were entirely pure. He was providing a Cadet with the use of his kitchen, granted he would be the one actually cooking, so she would not have to replicate less appetizing food for herself. He was also aware that, as a Vulcan, he was unable to behave licentiously towards females the way human officers could.

When he reached the lobby he found she was standing just outside the tubo lift with her bag. He invited her to join him on the turbo lift and they made their way upstairs. When they reached the door to his quarters it recognized his ID and opened for them.

Nyota took a few steps around the apartment entryway, taking in the room while sliding her bag off her shoulder and hanging it to Spock who hung it on the proper hook.

"This is so nice, you have so much space." She was making her way slowly to the small living area to the left of the door where he had a couch, two large chairs, and a vid screen. Spock walked straight ahead into his kitchen and began removing ingredients from the temperature controlled storage unit. Satisfied with her small lap around his living, Nyota walked over to join Spock.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" she volunteered. Although he doubted she would expedite the cooking process he gave her a few instructions to chop various vegetables.

As they cooked, Nyota asked few questions about the origin of the meal he was making, his favorite Plomeek soup, and where he had gotten the recipe. The experience of conversing while cooking was new to Spock; on Vulcan, dining was a quiet event as was the cooking process.

While the soup simmered, Spock invited Nyota to peruse the pre-loaded Academy holovids. She selected a film a few years old he had heard was considered hilarious among those who enjoyed it.

While Nyota had looked for a film he had seated himself in his usual reading place on the couch so after she had selected a film Nyota took the seat next to him, pulling he feat up underneath her as usual. He noticed she was wearing short boots that she slipped off and a long sleeved, mid-thigh length, black dress with a V-shaped dip at the neck. She had also left her hair down and it brush his arm as she took her seat. He wondered if she only wore her hair back because it was practical and if she really preferred it like this.

Shortly before the end of the film Spock rose to prepare the soup but instructed Nyota so stay on the couch, she was enjoying the film and had laughed though much of it. Although he had understood the humor of the film and had actually found it rather pleasing he had been more captivated by that laugh. He wondered if this was normal, to be so captivated by a simple action in close friendships.

As he was ladling out their portions, Nyota walked into the kitchen and helped him carry everything to his small dining table. They sat down across from each other and commenced eating. Other that an initial commented that the soup was "wonderful", Nyota was unusually quiet as they eat despite her appearance of contentment.

"You are very quiet, Nyota, is something wrong?" Spock asked, concerned.

"Oh yes, Spock, I just know that Vulcans don't really talk over meals like this and I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable. We are eating Vulcan food after all," she said with a smile. He appreciated the gesture and it was a mark of their closeness that Nyota was truthful in her reasoning; she was again being kind and he enjoyed it.

Once they finished eating Nyota began to ask Spock about his day. It was the usual way their conversations began, one asked the other about their day and the conversation spiraled from there. After nearly thirty minutes of speaking at his table over their empty bowls, Spock suggested they clear the table and move back to the living room.

On their way over, Nyota grabbed her bag off the hook and carried to the living room. They resumed their seats on the coach although notable closer, their hips lightly touching, as Nyota pulled out her TA PADD. She flipped through it and showed him the assignments she had graded for his classes. He was pleased, as always, with her work but was somewhat preoccupied by her closeness.

Her arm brushed his gently as she tapped her screen and she was close enough he could smell her hair, for some reason it reminded him of his childhood home, of something his mother had kept in her room that he would play with but that she never used, perfume?

He watched her long slender fingers dance across the screen and found himself wondering how soft her hands must be. He was startled by the idea and leaned back on the couch, away from the PADD and her side.

"Thank you, Nyota, your work is exceptional as always. You may submit them whenever you have the chance."

"Thank you, Spock. I'll send them over on my transport tomorrow afternoon." She placed the PADD on his coffee table and leaned back in the couch as he did, turning her body towards him and crossing her legs one knee over the other still barefoot.

"Well Spock I don't believe I know what you will be doing over the break, any new projects?"

His eyes had flicked up to her face as she spoke and he realized he had been looking at her crossed, slender, legs. What was he doing, this was not his normal behavior? "Yes I have a few projects to work on. The Botany department has asked me to do some work with one of their new desert plants while the lead scientist on the project is gone and the computer science department wants me to start the coding process for the advanced command proficiency exam."

As he spoke, Spock notices that Nyota was moving her hands together absentmindedly, sliding one finger of the others. He was strangely fascinated by the display.

"Well Spock," she said and again he looked up to face at the sound of her voice. She unexpectedly leaned forward a bit, shifting on the small couch so their upper bodies were closer. He could smell that same sweetness again. "I wouldn't want you to be here all alone doing nothing." He voice had changed, it was slower softer; he realized she was not looking at his eyes but was still facing him.

"Spock, I would like to be honest with you but I'm not sure you'll like what I have to say." He voice was still slow but hag gotten a bit loader. "I really like you, Spock. You're probably my closest friend here, closer than Gaila or anyone else. And we're really good friends," she leaned in closer "but I might want to be more than that."


	8. Chapter 8

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean, Nyota." Spock was confused and she was very close, too close for a Vulcan's comfort.

"Spock," she said, voice very soft again. "I care about you as more than a friend, and I get the feeling you care about me as more than a friend too." Now she looked slightly worried, as though what she were saying was scaring her too.

"Nyota, I," he paused. What should he say? He liked her very much and maybe it was more than friendship, he had wondered just that night if it was normal for him to be so fascinated by her laugh, by her smile. Maybe here was the answer.

But he was her commanding officer. True he would never be her professor again but she was still a Cadet and he was still a Commander. He could not allow himself, or her for that matter, to behave inappropriately.

"I am sorry, Nyota," he began again "but I am your commanding officer. This is an entirely inappropriate conversation, I do not wish to have ask you to leave."

She smiled slightly at his rejection, Spock was confused. "You're still calling me Nyota, not Cadet, even while you're explaining to me that you're my commander. If you really didn't care about me you would ask me to leave now. Spock please, you invited me here when some part of you must have known you shouldn't. I'm sure you didn't expect any of this tonight but that doesn't mean you don't want it."

She reached out rather slowly for his hand. "Please," she whispered closer than before, looking directly into his dark eyes with her beautiful deep brown ones. She was resting her finger on the back of his hand but slowly began to move them to his fingers.

She gradually and slowly ran her finger over the back of his, sliding her fingertips down to his. When she reached the end of his fingertip she lightly pushed her own under his fingers and lifted his hand up to meet hers.

As she stroked his fingers he gasped. A shock was sent from his fingers there she touched to the rest of his body. He responded immediately, rubbing his own first two fingers over hers.

As he did he felt her gasp too, the sensations he was experiencing were transferring to her. As one they leaned close until their lips were only inches apart, their breath shared between them.

"Spock," she gasped.

"Nyota," he responded, voice soft and strained. He had never felt anything like this before.

As their fingers continued to slide together he felt her two fingers split and form a circle around his own, sliding them up and down. The sensation was too much and Spock leaned in that last inch, kissing her powerfully. She responded with similar power and lust, her fingers still working over his.

Suddenly he pulled away and moved his knees onto the couch as she lied down flat so that he was straddling her hips. She leaned up to kiss him again as they laced their fingers, still sliding them together as that electricity shot through each of them.

Then Spock realized what he was doing. He pulled away immediately, stood up, and stepped away from the couch. He looked down and saw that one of Nyota's legs was on the couch and the other the floor so that he could nearly see up her dress and was again momentarily captivated by her long legs before remembering himself. She was breathing hard and her lips were a slightly darker than usual, a flush was spreading across her neck. He turned away from the sight, disappointed with himself for enjoying what he saw.

"Spock," she said diplomatically "please don't be upset. You did nothing wrong, please."

She saw he was conflicted. Some part of him did want her in the way he had just had her but the logical part knew it was wrong and he would listen to logic.

"Please leave, Nyota. I have behaved badly and I do not wish to expose you to my emotional volatility any further."

She stood and adjusted her dress so it fell properly and stepped towards him. He looked at her and saw her hair had been rumpled. Her expression, however, was determined.

"No, Spock. I'm not leaving, not yet. You care about me, I just proved it to you, and we're going to talk about this. I know at the Academy this is prohibited but you're not my professor which is the real reason for that rule. If we were on a starship there would be nothing wrong here-"

"Wrong," he interrupted her "if we were on a starship I would be the first officer and would have to set an example for the ship."

"There is nothing wrong with a first officer being in a relationship with a crew member! Married first officers _request_ their spouses be stationed with them!" She was angry, he did not think he had ever seen her like that.

"No, Nyota. I'm sorry but it is not possible. Please go."

"No." She took those last few steps to him so that she was just an arms-length away. She stopped directly in front of him and looked him in the eye. "You want me Spock, I've known you did for a while, longer than you apparently, and I've wanted you. But I thought we could just have a professional relationship until I realized I can't do that, I can't keep myself from caring about you." Her anger was dissipating, her voice turning pleading. "Please, Spock, please don't shut me out. I could handle it if you didn't care about me but you do. Spock, please don't _hurt_ me like this."

She dropped her eyes and reached for his hand again. He considered moving away from here, but her words had stopped him. "I do not want to hurt you, Nyota." Again his voice was softer than he expected. She looked back up at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears and something else. Joy? Hope? Validation?

She leaned forward slowly, tipping her chip up to him and kissed him lightly on his lips. Her right hand was on his wrist and she lifted her left, placing it on his chest. She learned forward again for another light kiss and this time he responded, kissing her back just as lightly.

They continued for a moment with these soft passionate kisses, Spock lightly ran his right hand over her hip and Nyota reached her left up to the back of Spock's neck. His own left hand twitched lightly in her soft grasp, the desire to twine their fingers together again building.

Understanding the meaning of the motion, Nyota brushed his fingers with hers again. Gently touching him, attempting to mimic the gentleness of their kisses in a more Vulcan way. Spock felt himself reacting, kissing her more deeply.

He felt her open her mouth slightly and responded by letting his tongue play hers. Then she lightly bit his lower lip and began to rub his fingers a bit more forcefully. He felt the same feelings from the couch begin to overwhelm him.

He reached his right hand around to her lower back and pulled her closer. He felt her smile into their kiss at the gesture and a part of him was pleased she too wanted them to be closer.

Soon their kisses, human and Vulcan, lost the slow passion of before and became more urgent, more fevered. Nyota reached one of her legs around Spock's waist and he slid his hand under her to lift her up, her other leg wrapping around him, without breaking their kiss.

Then Nyota pulled away just a fraction of an inch, Spock was displeased he wanted to keep tasting her. "Spock, your bedroom," was all she said before returning her lips to his but he understood. Had he been thinking logically he likely would have reacted to her request differently but instead he thought the bedroom was the perfect place to continue.

He carried her there swiftly and dropped her on the edge of the bed, falling to his knees in front of her so as to maintain their kiss. She broke their Vulcan kiss, however and began using both hands to remove his shirt.

It was this pause in their actions that gave him the chance to think for a moment. "We can't have intercourse, Nyota."

Had she not known him so well and been so accustomed to his choice of words she might have thought he had just "killed the mood". Instead she responded while running her hands over his leanly muscled abs, pecs, and shoulders.

"I know, Spock, the mating bond and everything, I know," she breathed before pausing giving him a dangerous look "but there are other things we can do."

She turned her eyes down and began running her fingers along the waist of his pants. She then stood, pulled him up with her, turned them around, and pushed him down on the bed so that he was the one sitting on the mattress. She then knelt in front of him and grasped his pants, pulling them down. Next were his boxers which she pulled slowly away from his half erect penis.

When she saw it a devious look came into her eyes as she wrapped her hand around the base. "Me getting down on my knees isn't enough to make you hard?" she said teasingly, he twitched in response.

She began moving her hand up and down the shaft as it grew and stiffened. Spock had never felt anything like this before, masturbation was illogical and not something he had ever experimented with, but he was enjoying himself immensely.

He had tipped his head back in pleasure but snapped it forward when he felt her hot breath near his erection. She looked directly into his eyes as she opened her mouth and placed it around the tip, swirling her tongue around the bundle of nerves.

Then she released the tip and brought her tongue to the base before running her tongue, flat, along the underside. Spock shivered and threw his head back again, propping himself up with his hands. She worked her way back down before licking up again, over and over she did this.

Finally she came to a stop at the tip and closed her lips around it again. This time she did not just swirl her tongue over the tip but began to take his length into her mouth. When her lips reached the fingers that were griping the base she sucked her way back up.

Her pace was slow at first but she eventually picked up speed until she was bobbing up and down on him. He reached one hand out to grab her hair and felt his hips beginning to buck up of their own accord to meet her mouth.

Suddenly she removed her hand and began taking his entire length in, his hips rocking widely until he felt every muscle contract as waves and waves of pleasure hit him. He felt Nyota still her head, her mouth still on him, as she sucked up the fluid he felt spiriting from him.

When the waves subsided Spock collapsed onto his mattress, in shock at the amazing feelings that had just run through his body. Nyota released him and he reached down for her hand, inviting her onto the mattress beside him. She put one leg on the bed next to his side and draped the other over his exposed abdomen, their feet hanging off the end of the bed.

"Did you enjoy that?" Nyota asked although Spock was sure she knew full well he enjoyed it.

"Nyota," he exhaled, still getting his breathing under control. "I have never felt anything like that before."

She was propped on her elbow so she could see his face and he hers. Her expression changed slightly to one of sadness, "Yes I thought that would be your first time." She almost seemed sorry that it was, that he had never experienced that before.

He looked over at the clock and saw it was nearly 11:00. "Nyota," he paused, unsure if he was making a mistake. "I know you have a transport to get to tomorrow but, if you wish, you may stay here."

She smiled regretfully and began lightly tracing her fingers over his shoulder. "I didn't end up finishing packing and I have to report to the shuttle bay at 8:00 so they can work out something with my travel arrangements. I can stay for a little while longer though."

She rested her head on his chest and snuggle closer to him. He could smell that sweetness again and almost wished it were gone so he could smell_ her_. Without even realizing he was doing it, Spock raised his arm and began stroking her hair. He decided he liked it down much more, he could see it better that way.

They laid like that for a while before Nyota sat up. "I'm starting to fall asleep so I better go," she said quietly. Spock sat up beside her and nodded.

He reached down and put his pants back on but left his shirt off, Nyota had thrown it somewhere and he decided he could find it later. For now his attention was on her.

"I think I will miss you more now," he said, walking with her to the living room to retrieve her bag and PADD.

"I know I'll miss you more," she said with a sad smile. "I'll message you while I'm gone. I want to hear all about your work here."

When they reached the door she turned to him, more serious and with that same sad smile. "Spock, I know you'll have a lot to think about. I'm sure tonight has been a lot for you but I just want to say that no matter what conclusions you have reached when I come back," she lightly grabbed his wrist and lifted it up between them "I'm glad I told you how I feel."

She dropped his hand and lightly brushed his fingers as it fell back to his side then leaned forward and kissed him on the check. Then she turned for his door and left.


	9. Chapter 9

Spock stood for a moment staring at the door. He did not know what to do. He only realized how long he had been standing there when a small shiver ran through him, he still had not shirt on and he had turned the heat in his room down for his normal Vulcan-like temperature for Nyota's comfort before she arrived.

He turned back to his room to retrieve his shirt but paused in the doorway looking at his rumpled bedding. A moment ago he had been in pure bliss and only now was the weight of what he had done hitting him.

He had violated Star Fleet regulation. He had taken advantage of a Cadet, no matter how willing that Cadet had appeared to be taken advantage of. He would have to turn himself in for disciplinary action.

Spock found his shirt and pulled it back on, trying to put the memory of what had happened only feet from him out of his mind as he went about getting dressed. He checked himself in the mirror and flattened his hair, hoping the slight green flush in his checks would go down before he reached the security office.

Satisfied he looked respectable, Spock headed for his door but heard a noise from his computer and stopped. He turned and saw it was a message from Nyota; she must have only just reached her room, Spock thought. The message was short and read:

Spock, I know you'll want to report yourself for misconduct but please don't do anything until I come back. Think about everything and then talk to me, don't do anything drastic just yet.

Part of him was impressed she knew him so well but the logical part of him knew that respecting her wish for him to wait for her return would mean lying by omission to Star Fleet. He should turn himself in now but he knew that doing so would hurt Nyota.

Then he thought about the repercussions for her. He was Vulcan, no one would believe he had pursued her unprovoked, they would know she had participated on some level and while that was certainly not a punishable offenses—the responsibility lied with the officer to rebuke the affections of a Cadet—it would certainly not look good on her record. Worse yet, people may think Nyota had attempted to instigate the affair so as to obtain her position as his TA; the details would not matter, her reputation would be ruined and she would never receive an assignment she would be happy with.

No, Spock could not report himself until he had spoken with her. He would have to wait.

Still somewhat in shock and not yet ready to process what he and Nyota had just done, Spock decided to do some research. He was very knowledgeable about both anatomy and the reproductive process but was, apparently, lacking in his understanding of sexual acts. He decided the only way to progress was to investigate.

He began searching by describing the act Nyota had performed on him and, after stumbling upon some highly inappropriate videos, he found that she had performed a "blowjob" which was a common human sex act. Spock continued his searches and found that much of human sex was related to putting one's mouth where it was not meant to go. Of course not all of this was new to him, Spock had heard of some Vulcan sex acts thought to be terribly dirty and pornographic—he saw that the term "Vulcan blowjob" fit one such act nicely.

Spock also found that humans had slang words for genitalia and, though he would never use them in a professional setting, decided they were terms he would have to become familiar with. There were also acts he read were particularly pleasurable for woman and decided to read up on them in case he were ever in a position to please a women; he could not allow himself to think of using them on Nyota or he would lose his train of thought entirely.

After nearly two hours of research Spock began to feel his thought grow weary. He would need to meditate on what he had done; he rose from his chair and entered his meditation room bathed in red light.

As he sat on the floor and fell into meditation he thought about his actions. Everything he and Nyota had done had felt so good but seeking physical pleasure was illogical and a poor excuse for his loss of control. But had it just been physical?

Nyota said she believe Spock cared for her in a way stronger than friendship, was she right? True he had no real friendships to base his behavior off of but he had found himself thinking about Nyota more than was entirely normal. He had never thought about the way Captain Pike, the closest thing to a friend he had besides Nyota, laughed or how his eyes looked when he smiled.

Spock could admit Nyota was attractive by human and, to some extent, Vulcan standards but he had seen plenty of attractive women before and been unfazed. Perhaps his preoccupation truly did stem from a deeper affection and perhaps that deeper affection truly had led him to react to her touch.

Spock continued, thinking about Nyota. She was kind to him and he appreciated it but she was also intelligent and, in many ways, his intellectual equal. He chose to spend his time with her instead of alone, something he had never felt the urge to do with another person before, and he liked hearing about her. When she spoke about her life and her thoughts he enjoyed hearing it. And he felt comfortable sharing more personal details about himself, an urge practically against Vulcan nature.

Still he was Vulcan and could not _feel_ anything for Nyota other than comradery. Even as the thought crossed Spock's mind he knew it was a lie, he cared for her and was coming to the realization that what he felt for her was not just friendship. Yes, he wanted her, he realized, and she had known for far longer than he had.


	10. Chapter 10

After Spock's small epiphany while meditating he did not know what to do with himself. He could not see Nyota, she would not be returning for another week, but now that he understood his feelings he wanted to see her more. He had been right in his hypothesis that, after their night together, he would find their time apart more displeasing.

That night Spock, for the first time in his life, had trouble falling asleep. He could not help but replaying the scenes of what he and Nyota had done on the very bed he was sleeping on. He had to truly concentrate on not becoming aroused, or _hard_ as Nyota had said. Nyota. Interesting, she had been right in pointing out that he no longer called her Cadet unless he made a conscious point to. He hoped she found that acceptable, he certainly found the idea of her calling him Spock acceptable. And the image of Nyota calling his name—rasping his name, screaming his name—came to him and again he was back to sexual frustration. After an hour of this Spock finally drifted to sleep. But his dreams were not exactly restful.

In his dream Nyota blew him again, sucked his "cock" (a new word he had learned in his research) just like she had that night. She licked up his shaft and swirled her tongue on the tip before plunging his cock deep down her throat.

But before he could "cum" the dream changed. This time she was naked in front of him, squirming on the bed and he reached for her, running his hands over the long legs that had captivated him. When his fingers reached her panties his yanked them off forcefully. Unimpeded, his fingers went deep into pussy and he watched her respond, arching her back off the bed, as he crooked his finger, hitting her g-spot.

Then the dream changed and they in his office. They were wearing their Star Fleet uniforms, her in a dress and boot and him pants and shirt. She was fumbling with his pants, locking eyes with him as she did, until she had them loose and worked them past his hips. He picked her up and placed her on his empty desk, running his hands up her thighs to lift her shirt above her panties. Then he pulled those down as she began to work his cock with her hand. He was already rock hard and needed release. Without warning he thrust his cock into her in one swift motion. She moaned loudly and gripped his back as he continued thrusting, her hips rocking up to meet his. He kept going, he was close. So close and then—

He woke with a start, sweat on his face and guilt playing across his mind. His erection was causing his sheets to tent over his hips. Spock sat there for a moment and started meditating and eventually felt his erection fade. He fell asleep immediately without any further thought on the matter.

When Spock awoke the next morning he felt physically well rested but somewhat mentally drained. He felt guilty for the thoughts he'd had of Nyota and the images his mind had created of her. He wanted to message her and tell her what he had dreamt, to apologize and assure her he would try not to have such thoughts again. But something told him she would not be pleased to receive a message like that at home, he would have to wait for her to return and apologize in person. In her absence, however, Spock's days progressed much as they did before she had become his TA and part of his routine; he simple substituted class for work.

After his usually weekday morning run Spock began coding the advanced command proficiency exam, what the Cadets refer to as the Kobayashi Maru. At approximately 11:00 Spock ceased his work with the exam and began reading through his journals. After an hour he replicated himself lunch and continued reading while eating, making the occasional note on his PADD of items he may like to utilize on the _Enterprise_. After his lunch, at approximately 1:00, Spock began his work in the Botany Department, studying a new plant sent to Earth for research that was believed to be similar to those that grow naturally on Vulcan. At 6:00 Spock repackaged all his equipment and returned to his quarters.

There, despite having pointedly kept Nyota from his thoughts for most of the day, his mind began to wonder in the direction of a certain couch. As he made dinner he thought of how she had offered to help him and how he had allowed her to help, both acts of kindness that only slightly increased productivity with her slower cooking skills.

Finished cooking, Spock ate his dinner while reading more journals and making notes. When he finished he continued working on his own research paper, reading the martial he had saved as potentially useful sources. After a few hours of work on his paper Spock received a message from Nyota.

Surprised to hear from her already Spock read her message quickly. It was brief and, in many ways, unsatisfying. It read:

I miss you already Spock. Knowing you, you'll be working on your paper right now and I don't want to disturb you. I'm heading out with my mom in a minute but I just wanted to say hi. I know that's an illogical reason but I can't help it. I'll talk to you soon.

It was just after 9:00 in the morning in central Africa and Spock assume Nyota was leaving for errands with her mother, an activity she had told him they did together. He was surprised that he knew what she would be doing despite having had that same knowledge for weeks. Somehow everything he knew about her was different, more personal and, somehow, special.

He wrote back to her:

I too miss our time together. I hope both your family is well and I am glad you able to spend time with your mother, I know you missed her. You were right, I was working on my paper but you did not disturb me; that would be impossible for you. I am pleased you chose to message me. We will speak soon I hope.

He had nothing to really tell her and typing to her felt so formal and strange now, it was how he communicated with students not her. He knew how illogical that sentiment was since he had messaged her only the day before but could not help but feel as though this were different.

After he sent his message, Spock decided to give up on his paper for the night and moved to his meditation room. Although he had gained a great deal of clarity about Nyota the night before while meditating, his thoughts were still occupied with what he was allowing himself to feel for her. He was purging emotion while allowing himself to feel, it did not make sense but Spock could not help himself. He was sure this conflict was dangerous to his Vulcan sensibilities but saw no way around it. He was far too invested in his feelings.


	11. Chapter 11

The rest of Spock's week continued in much the same vein as the first day: he exercised, coded, ate lunch and read his journals, worked in the Botany lab, made himself dinner and read his journals, worked on his paper, messaged Nyota. They spoke every night, morning for her, while she was away. She wanted to hear about the new plant Spock was studying—similar in behavior to Vulcan plants but very different in biology—and he wanted to hear about her family and what she was doing each day.

Spock had been trying to keep his inappropriate thoughts to a minimum, since he seemed unable to eliminate them completely, but still spent much of his time missing her conversation. He liked hearing her opinions on his work and what she thought of her classes. What he missed most was really just her.

When Saturday rolled around, Spock spend the mooring in his quarters working on his paper so he could be close to his personal comm unit. He and Nyota messaged back and forth talking as they had all week and planning to meet after her return. They continued with written messages rather than video conversation so Nyota's parents would not know the nature of her conversations.

Although they had not explicitly discussed the state of their relationship there was an implied need to be discreet in their personal interactions. Spock still wanted to report himself for behavioral violations but knew enough to stay away from that topic in communication when he was unable to articulate his point to her face. He also knew that Nyota wanted to continued whatever she had started with him by sharing her feelings, she had made as much clearly in his quarters and reinforced the point in her messages.

In the interest of keeping their behavior professional, Spock suggested he and Nyota meet in his office to talk but Nyota did not like the idea, although she had not given a satisfactory reason why. Instead she suggested he visit her in her quarters. She would be arriving earlier than many Cadets who were planning to come in either late Sunday night or Monday morning before their first classes. As the dorm would be mostly empty of students Spock could visit without being seen. The problem was he did not have a real reason to be there so Nyota suggested, if he were to see anyone, he say he is there to perform a search of a Cadet's quarters suspected of being in possession of illicit substance .

That was the plan running through Spock's mind as he walked down the corridor to Nyota's quarters. He had, in fact, not encountered any Cadets thus far although he had seen some around campus throughout the break. (He assumed that, as it was noon, many Cadets were in the mess hall which had opened again after the break.)

When Spock reached Nyota's door he found himself rather excited to see her. They had been apart for only a short time but he had only just discovered the extent of his feelings towards her when she left.

At the chime of the door Spock heard Nyota move around before the door slid open. The moment she saw him she grabbed his shirt and yanked him inside, pulling him down to her level and kissing him fiercely. After a moment's hesitation and shock, Spock responded in kind. He wrapped his arms around her back and lifted her up to him before she wrapped her legs around his waist.

He was still walking forward after she had pulled him into her room and Nyota's back connected with the wall opposite the door. She hardly even flinched as she continued kissing him, running her hands though his short hair while he ran his own over her sides.

Some part of Spock knew they could go no further though so they remained in that position, running their hands over each other. Slowly their kisses turned more passionate and less fevered. They eventually separated, touching their foreheads together and breathing hard.

"Spock," Nyota said with a smile "it's so good to see you." She kissed him lightly on the nose and leaned away from him against the wall. When he didn't move she said "you can put me down, Spock." He did as she asked without remembering exactly why or when he had picked her up.

"I have missed your company, Nyota, very much," he said, attempting to keep the lust from his voice.

"We said we would talk so we should probably do that," Nyota said with a slight blush. "Sorry for kind of attacking you but, uh, yeah." She did not sound entirely apologetic and he was fine with that, he was not sorry she did it either.

"Try to find a spot to sit, sorry everything's kind of a mess but I'm still unpacking."

Spock began to survey the room for the first time, seeing that it was truly a mess. It was small, one room like all Cadet quarters on campus, with two beds, two dressers, and two desks with chairs. There were clothes scattered over both beds and one, presumably Nyota's, had an open suitcase thrown into the pile.

Spock pulled out the chair of the desk closest to Nyota and took a seat, turning to face her and begin the difficult conversation he saw coming while she took a seat on her bed and clothes.

"Spock," she started turning serious, he voice low and raspy "I know you're going to want to report yourself for misconduct but I don't think you have done anything wrong. As for us, well," she smiled slightly "you saw how much I missed you and you told me you missed me too. I don't think we could ever go back to being just Cadet and Commander. I really would like to try to make this, us, real. Have a real relationship."

She had made her point clearly and succinctly and now left it to him to make his. He did not, however, know exactly what that point should be. He understood she did not want him to report himself but it was Star Fleet regulation and it was his duty to uphold it, but he could not hurt her or, worse than that, irreparably damage her career. And as for a relationship, he certainly wanted her and cared for her immensely but it was, again, against regulation.

"I'm sorry, Nyota," Spock began slowly in a slightly pained voice "but I don't think we can have a 'real relationship'. You are a Cadet and I cannot violate regulation like that. I think—"

"Bullshit," she interrupted, a frown on her face. "Officers do worse things with Cadets and you know it. Captain Andrews is sleeping with half his students and you won't even _date_ me!" She paused before continued but when she did her voice was icy. "If you don't want to be with me that's fine but I know that's not the problem here."

Spock was worried by her powerfully emotional response. "I am sorry," he said again "but I see no logic in us continuing," he searched for a word to refer to whatever they were doing "this."

Spock was prepared for her to yell at him again but instead she smiled slightly, realization on her face. "Spock," she said softly, kindly, as though it were a simple lesson being taught to a child, "the logic is in being with the person you like being with." She paused and took a breath before straightening her back and continuing.

"You said before that you find my presence, my conversation, pleasing. If that is the case, is not the logical course of action to peruse a means of prolonging that conversation and pleasing atmosphere? And is it not also logical to establish a means of referencing that attempt towards establishing a pleasing atmosphere. And is it not _also_ logical that that pleasing atmosphere be celebrated in whatever form most appropriate whether that be physical or not?" She paused, "Spock, it is logical to explore what this is if the end result is pleasing."

She was using the word he had used to describe things humans often called "happy" or "fun" or "beautiful" and was presenting a fairly logical argument, clearly her intention. She had, however, missed one important detail about relationships that was the core of the reason Vulcans abstained from them.

"It is not logical to pursue that pleasing environment if there is a strong likelihood of the pursuit ending in a displeasing one." He pause as she had, "I am sorry Nyota, but if we were to try and it doesn't work out it could end badly."

"Well that's the best part. This can't end badly. You're logical enough that, if we were to have a relationship and it were to end badly, you would not let any history with me affect your behavior. And I'm responsible enough to not allow any history with you to affect my behavior." She reached her hand out to him and touched his knee. "We can do this, Spock, I just need you to be willing to give it a shot."

She had not address the emotions involved in a relationship "ending badly", as he had heard humans put it, but her logic was sounds. And if she was choosing to risk her emotional health on a relationship, a risk he felt confident he could not take, then, he supposed, they could "give it a shot".

"Alright, Nyota, I am willing to try this," he said and a smile spread over her face.


	12. Chapter 12

As soon as Spock said the words Nyota rose and walked to him in her desk chair, leaning down to kiss him sweetly, still smiling.

She pulled back slightly, still leaning down to him. "Spock, you are the most infuriatingly logical man I could possibly have wanted a relationship with and I am so happy that you are." She kissed him again and he put his arm around her, his hand resting on her lower back pulling her closer.

Before things got out of hand, however, he pulled back slightly. "We still have things to discuss," he told her, trying to steer things in a more productive direction. She sighed, disappointed but knowing he was right, and returned to her seat on the end of her bed.

"Apparently I will be unable to report myself for inappropriate behavior as we have decided to continue that behavior," Spock said beginning the conversation by stating the obvious. "This does mean, however, that we must be discreet. While you were home I considered the repercussions of our actions coming to light not only to my career but to yours as well."

Nyota frowned slightly, evidently she had not considered one of their careers and he wondered which one.

"We will not be able to tell anyone or behave as anything more than student and teacher in public," he continued. "My being here, in a Cadet's room, does not fall into the category of respectable behavior."

"I know, Spock, we can be respectable and boring in public," she said, attempting to make light of the joy-killing topic. "And we can be more careful not that we've established where this is going. I actually did some reading in the Star Fleet handbook about professor/student and CO/Cadet relationships." Interesting, she had made some assumptions about how he would respond when she returned. Or perhaps she was just being optimistic.

"What _is_ prohibited is a sexual relationship between professors and students but, because it's hard to define a non-sexual romantic relationship, the rules are pretty broad and workaround-able." She'd made up that word but it served to make her point: if they were caught they could manipulate the rules. "There's also a list of behaviors teachers should avoid so as not to give the appearance, to the student or a review committee, that they are having an affair with a student. One is being in the student's quarters but there's nothing against me being in yours, students visit professors all the time; they're just usually there is groups but it's still allowed.

"We can also meet up wherever we want for non-sexual activities like getting dinner or lunch or just walking around—pretty much dates are okay," she smiled slightly at the last again. Apparently she intended for them to go on dates in the near future.

"I am impressed at your research," Spock said. "Did you know I would agree to establish a relationship?"

Another broad smile lit her face. "I hoped you would and I knew I could make a logical argument as to why you should agree. So yeah I guess I decided the odds were good."

Fascinating. "Very well, I suppose that we have everything settled then don't we? Now what do we do? I should not be seen here and most Cadets will begin arriving soon."

She thought for a moment. "Well I have to finish unpacking but that won't take long then maybe we could get some lunch in the mess hall. You do have to give me my next TA assignment."

"Yes I suppose that is acceptable, when would you like me to meet you there?"

"You don't have to leave if you don't want to, I don't mind you just hanging out while I unpack." She spoke kindly to him with a hint of sadness, as though no one had ever offered him the opportunity to "hang out" while they did anything—which no one had.

"Yes I would find that pleasing and as you said it is logical to pursue the most pleasing course of action assuming potential results of doing so are not displeasing."

"Spock are you making fun of me?" she said with a smile, taking clothes out of her travel bag and putting them in drawers.

He thought for a moment before realizing he was. "Yes I believe I am." She began to laugh. "I don't believe I have ever 'made fun' of someone before," he said, slightly surprised with himself, "I apologize for having done so."

"Spock, you don't have to apologize for making fun of someone when they know you don't mean to be hurtful. You were just being funny."

"Oh, I see. Well then I do not apologize and I am pleased I have made you laugh." He had not told her he liked her laugh before and she took notice of the complement, smiling again before going back to putting her clothes away.

They continued their banter while she put the rest of her clothes away then left for the mess hall. Once again the hall outside Nyota's door was empty but she left first just to be safe before signaling it was clear.

As they walked and got their food Nyota asked about his progress on his paper which was now almost read for submission for publication. He then asked her about her family and the activities she did while home. These were topics they had discussed briefly in their messages but those had been short exchanges and now they were able to have a continuous dialogue about what they had been doing.

As they sat down Spock realized there was a Cadet only one table away that had eyed them curiously, perhaps wondering why another student had chosen to meet with a professor for lunch shortly after getting back from home.

"Cadet," Spock interrupted she told him about her trip home "I believe it would be most prudent if we continued this conversation in Andorian. The practice will help with your accent and vocabulary." Spock knew she was highly proficient in Andorian and that it was not commonly known as it wasn't required for any study tract at the Academy and few Andorians joined Star Fleet.

"_Sure, what's going on?_" Nyota continued, transitioning seamlessly into the language.

"_I became aware of a Cadet looking suspiciously at us and I wanted to be safe._" He hesitated before sharing his ulterior motive with her. "_I also wanted to be able to call you Nyota and tell you how appealing I find that shirt_."

Nyota looked down at her shirt and smiled. It was a dark red shirt with a deep V-neck that showed off the tops of her full breasts nicely. It was a popular trend Spock had noticed many women wearing lately.

"_Why thank you, Spock,_" she said moving her arms so that her breasts pushed together just a bit more. "_I happen to find your command-grey uniform uniquely sexy on you too_."

"_I believe you are being sarcastic_."

"_Yes Spock I was. I always find you sexy, there's nothing unique about today_."

It was a shockingly inappropriate conversation and Spock was not entirely sure he was comfortable having it but, he had to admit, he did find her shirt pleasing. Given the nature of their conversation, Spock had been slowly inspecting the room but no one appeared disturbed and he was confident no one understood them.

For the rest of their time in the mess hall they spoke in Andorian and kept the conversation firmly PG, discussing their break more and Nyota telling Spock about her latest music find, another non-Terran band he had never heard of. Around 4:00, after a few hours in the mess hall, the noticed more Cadets arriving and decided it best to leave.

"_What would you like to do next_?" she asked.

"_I would like to continue this exchange further but I do not have an idea as to where to do that_."

"_Me too, we could go to your office. No one would question us being there_," she suggested.

"_Yes,_" Spock agreed "_I believe that would be an appropriate place_." As they walked they watched the Cadets roam around campus, some with bags and others greeting friends just arriving from break.

When they reached his office the door swished open for them and the lights came on. They entered together and Nyota walked towards his desk before turning around to face him, leaning on the edge and placing her hands on the desk besides her hips. The motion again pushed her breasts together and Spock got the feeling this was not an accident.

"So," she started, switching back to Standard "now that we have some privacy what do you want to do with this shirt?"


	13. Chapter 13

Spock was caught off guard, only moments ago they had been talking about music and books and now she was implying he should remove her shirt? The idea, however, immediately enticed him and he felt his cock twitch at the thought of pulling it off her.

She had tilted her chin down so that she had to look up from under her lashes to see him, her mouth slightly open and the tops of her breasts exposed nicely. He stepped up right to her front so that his face was only inched from hers.

"Well, I would prefer if that shirt were to make its way across the room," Spock said, playing along.

He gripped her hips firmly and pulled him against his own, bringing his mouth closer to her own while she let out a slight gasp at the jolt. He did not kiss her but instead maintained that closeness, sharing the same breath, while she ran her hands up his sides. When her hands reached his neck she pulled him down for a kiss, lustful and almost angry as their kiss was in her quarters.

He pushed her backwards until she hit the desk and fell onto it in a seated position, reaching an arm behind her momentarily for support. He moved to stand between her legs and ran his hands over her stomach under her shirt before gripping it and pulling it up over her head.

Once it was off he pulled back for a moment to see her breasts, concealed only by a black bra with lace accents. He reached behind her, looking into her face for a sign she wanted him to stop, and unhooked her bra, freeing her firm breasts.

He took in the sight before him for a moment, reaching and cupping her soft breast in his right hand, pleased by the slight weight of it. Unable to resists he leaned in and licked over the nipple, kneading his fingers into her tit, before sucking her whole nipple into his mouth.

Nyota tossed her head back at the sensation, and he felt an echo of what she felt shoot through him. It was a strange deep feeling that immediately made his cock harder, slowly growing into a full erection.

He kept sucking, running his tongue over the nipple as he felt it harden. He used his left hand to massage her other tit, running his finger over the nipple, before replacing it with his mouth.

She lightly ground against his hips, feeling his cock through his pants, and moaned at the thought of his erection so close. She leaned farther forward, breaking his contact with her breasts, and grabbed the hem of his shirt before yanking it over his head. She ran her hands over his chest and kissed him, forcing her tongue into his mouth and her hips against his while still seated on the desk.

He felt her hands gradually move towards his pants but he pulled away slightly. Nyota looked confused and he explained, "I want to try something."

He reached for the front of her pants and undid them. She helped him pull them down, lifting herself off the desk for a moment.

Spock saw that she was wearing a black lace thong that matched the bra he had already thrown off her. Before removing it a thought occurred to him. "Computer, lock office door; no entrants." Nyota laughed and kissed him lightly.

"What, you don't want anyone to come by for a show?" She seemed to like teasing him with sexual language and he found it entirely arousing. His cock was hard and throbbing while he ran his fingers under the waist of her panties before removing them, maintaining eye contact with her as he watched the anticipation build on her face.

He ran his fingers over her inner thighs, slowly moving them towards her pussy. He had felt how wet her panties were when he removed them and knew she was ready for his fingers. When he reached her, he ran the fingers of his right hand over her pussy lips and she shuddered, letting out a sharp breath.

He did it again, running his fingers over the outside of her pussy, picking up juices as he went. One more pass and he moved his fingers to her clit, circling slowly while watching her face for her reaction. She again shuddered and gasped, a smile coming to her face as she closed her eyes in bliss.

He kept circling and felt her hips begin to circle with his. Then he brought in his other hand and, without warning, thrust his middle finger into her pussy. She gasped, her eyes flying open, and bucked her hips up to his hand. Still circling her clit, he began to violently stroke her g-spot. Her brow was furrowed and she made slight noises as he continued.

He felt her thighs shaking around his hips and suddenly changed his motion on his clit, tapping fast while still stroking her g-spot. In a matter of seconds she was shaking everywhere, her voice getting loader and her hips rocking into his hand harder.

Suddenly she gasped loudly, throwing her head back, and her hips stilled. He kept moving his fingers over her, rubbing her clit and stoking her inner walls while they convulsed around his finger. He felt an echo of her orgasm shooting through him and wanted her to feel more. Her whole body shook and she couldn't sit still as blood pounded through her limps when a more powerful second orgasm hit her.

She cried out, her voice just on the pleasure side of pain, and Spock began to slow his fingers, feeling that she had nearly had enough. As he did she leaned forward and rested her forehead on his chest, breathing hard, and he watched the sweat that covered her body run down her back in rivulets. She moaned slightly when he pulled his soaked fingers away and lightly massaged her inner thighs, attempting to soothe her muscles, while spreading her juices over her legs.

After a few minutes like that Nyota spoke, still slightly out of breath. She left her forehead on his chest, her eyes facing the floor, but began to lightly run her fingers over his arms and shoulders. "Spock," she breathed "that was amazing, where did you learn to do that?"

He was slightly embarrassed as he had learned much of that from the videos he had found during his research. At the time, however, he had not known how enormously gratifying it was for both him and her. "I did some research of my own while you were gone into these sorts of matters," he said as diplomatically as possible.

At that she raised her head and looked him in the eyes, confused and amused. "Spock," she said accusingly "did you watch porn so you'd know what to do when I got back?"

He had not considered his research to be training for when she got back but that was apparently the end result. "Yes I did."

She smiled at him and kissed him lightly, a salty taste but still distinctly her and, in that moment, he was very pleased to be in her company.


	14. Chapter 14

They sat there, very still for a few moments, his arms wrapped around her back holding her close. He could still feel his erection but was reciting some meditation mantras in the back of his mind so it would go down, this was about Nyota not him.

After a few moments they heard a beep from Nyota's communicator in her pants' pocket indicating she had a message. She sighed and leaned back.

"I have a group project due next Monday, that'll be them arraigning a time to meet to divvy up the work." She started to stand up while running her hands over Spock's still-bare chest and he ran his hands over her arms.

"Of course, school work is a priority," he did not want her to have to leave. "I do wish you could stay but I understand."

"Me too," she said wistfully. She moved away from him to pick up her clothes and he suspected she was showing off a bit as she went about it, waving her ass at him when she bent over to put on her black thong and running her fingers over her breasts when putting on her bra. They were clearly designed to match and he wondered if this was a coincidence of if Nyota had planned to match the two.

"Thank you again," she said pulling her shirt back over head now fully dressed and looking for her shoes. He had not even noticed it but apparently she had toed them off while he was working over her breasts. "For everything," she clarified, her eyes dark, the implication clearly that she was not thanking him for the conversation.

"I thoroughly enjoyed it myself," he said, his ears starting to feel hot. She noticed and walked over to him. She lightly ran her fingers up his neck and the side of his face before resting her finger tip on the point of his ear.

"I'm glad, Spock." She quickly kissed him then removed her hand and started walking towards his office door before turning around. She kept walking backwards and said "I'll come by tomorrow during my break to work then maybe we can get lunch."

"I would like that very much," he said, his mood lightening at the thought of having definitive plans to see her again.

As she turned to leave he felt an unfamiliar feeling come over him, he felt light and pleased and satisficed and gratified all at once. It took him a moment to realize it was likely happiness.

He was torn, however, between his desire to be fully Vulcan (and already the fact that he _desired_ to be Vulcan was sufficient evidence that he would never entirely succeed in becoming so) and his desire for Nyota. He had no doubt this happiness was a direct result of having been in her presence and was unsure how to proceed.

Ordinarily he would have returned to his room for deep meditation to purge the emotions he had been letting go unchecked for too long. But he did not want to remove his feelings for Nyota from his mind, he cared for her and wanted to continue caring for her.

He also considered what would happen if he were to attempt to purge his feelings for Nyota from his mind and found it unlikely he would be able to do so. When she had been away he had spent much of his time thinking about her and was certain that, even if he managed to entirely remove his feelings for her, the feelings would return as soon as she crossed his mind. Perhaps he was doomed or cursed to feel affection for her and the resultant happiness that will come with that.

Spock felt everything return back to his pre-break routine: he went on his morning run, taught his morning classes, and worked during his afternoon break. Of course, when he arrived in his office he had a brief image Nyota seated on his desk while he ran his hands over her flash through his mind but he managed to control his thoughts after that and get to his work. When she arrived he felt as though nothing between them had changed, they were just friends working together on their own respective projects; it was a nice sentiment.

At their usual lunch break hour Spock turned to Nyota who was already packing her work up. "Are you ready for lunch," he asked her by way of invitation.

"Yep," she stood and lifted her bag over her shoulder "but why don't we go somewhere different, off campus, for lunch. There's a great sandwich place just a few blocks from here with a lot of vegetarian options." Her face fell for a moment and she added quickly "unless you think that would look bad."

He considered her proposal. They were, of course, back in their Star Fleet uniforms which always lent an air of professionalism to any meeting. Perhaps, if they were to bring their bags with them it would look as though they were having a professional lunch and had simply decided to do so in a more pleasing atmosphere. "I think we would be discrete enough, let's go there. You may lead the way," he said, indicating the door.

Although late November it was a rather warm day for San Francisco as they walked to the delicatessen. On the way Spock asked about Nyota's latest assignments and she asked him about his progress on his paper.

When they arrived Spock scanned the menu while Nyota order something called a BLT which he read stood for "bacon, lettuce, and tomato." After a moment he selected a vegetarian banh mi sandwich with a rather appealing sounding description.

They took they seats at one of the small two-chair tables and waited for their food, continued their conversation from the walk over. While Nyota described her computer science work he scanned the room and saw a few other Cadets were also eating there but had apparently taken no notice of them.

After their numbers were called and their food collected, Nyota turned to him. "I'm glad you decided to try this, Spock," she whispered. "I know I've said that before but I really am." She said no more and began unwrapping her BLT.

He reached out his hand and lightly brushed his fingers over her wrist, stilling her hands while she looked up to meet his eyes. "I am glad too." It felt appropriate to use an emotionally word as, he now knew, he had emotional feelings for her.

She smiled slightly, understanding the weight of his words, before he pulled his hand back and began to work on his own sandwich. The she said to him, in Vulcan "_Perhaps we are not very good at keeping ourselves appearing professional_," she switched back to Standard "but I am sure no one noticed."

They continued eating and talking as they would in the mess hall, drawing no more eyes to their table from the Cadets than Spock normally did. It was a nice afternoon. When they parted after their walk back to campus Spock felt that same lightness as before and allowed it to fill him. Perhaps Nyota was instilling some bad, by Vulcan standards, habits in him but he was too happy in that moment to care.


	15. Chapter 15

The feeling persisted throughout the week as they continued their afternoons together, eating lunch and talking about their interests and their work. Somehow, Spock found himself capable of talking to Nyota for hours without tiring from feeling he was accommodating a human, perhaps because he did not have to accommodate her.

She appeared him so completely he found himself no longer pressured to appease human customs when talking to her. Rather than ask her "how she is" he will simply begin the conversation without meaningless prelude. It was refreshing and so was the conversation, always intellectual but without appearing to tire her, perhaps because she was, in many ways, the closest to an intellectual equal he had even found. True she was not as knowledgeable as him in virtually any area except xenolinguistics, but she was intelligent enough to speak to him about those other areas.

On Friday afternoon Spock decided he wanted to do something for her. He had read about the ways humans formed and grew relationships and discovered that it was common for one person to attempt to surprise the other. He had given this some consideration and decided on the perfect idea.

He was already committed to meeting with Captain Pike that night but was free the following night and asked her if she wanted to spend it with him. He then added as a second thought "I would understand if you did not want to give up a Saturday night with friends for me. We can do something another time if you would prefer."

"Spock I wouldn't be giving up anything," she said "I _want_ to spend my Saturday night with you." They were in his office and about to leave for lunch. She smiled and touched his face lightly before letting her hand fall. "So what did you want to do?"

They began walking to the door and off to lunch. "It's a surprise but I will tell you to dress nicely for an evening date."

She smiled again as they left the building. "Oooh a surprise," she laughed lightly "should I try to guess what we're doing?"

"Even if you guess correctly I will not tell so," he though for moment before adding "of course I would not want that to discourage you from trying" he said, teasing her lightly. She laughed again but came up short when she realized they were on the public Academy grounds.

"Yes, Commander, that is a rather amusing sentiment," a few Cadets had given them a confused look when they heard Nyota's laugh, Vulcans were not known for making jokes. He hated for them to have to use titles like this when they were having a casual conversation.

"Vulcan?" she asked simply after a moment of silence.

"_Yes I think that would be more appropriate_," he answered in the language of her choosing. "_I cannot wait for the day when you have finally taught me Swahili and we can converse in your own language_."

She smiled again "_One day I'm sure,_" she said wistfully. "_But for now, we will have to make do with yours._"

Spock had spent the entirety of Saturday preparing for his date with Nyota. They would meet by the main gate at eight that evening and walk to dinner together, at an Indian restaurant he had read good reviews of, and then he would show her the surprise.

He checked his appearance one more time in his mirror to be sure he had met the dress requirements of the type of place they were going. He was wearing black dress pants, a black dress shirts, and a light jacket—exactly what he had read would be the best outfit to wear for a place like this.

He arrived at the gate entrance early so it was a few minutes before Nyota arrived. She was wearing a short sparkly champagne dress with a deep V-neck that was fitted until the end of the dress with matching feels and her hair was left down in large curls around her face. He had a new favorite outfit.

"You look beautiful, Nyota," he said softly, unable to take his eyes off her body.

"Your look great too, Spock," she said, equally softly before walking up to him.

Although somewhat risky to meet on campus, Spock had decided that as they were going somewhere off the usual path of Cadets on a Saturday night they would be safe to start there.

As they walked to the restaurant Nyota asked Spock about the surprise. "I'm excited, please just one hint."

"I am sorry, you will have to wait until after dinner." He had told her about the restaurant already, not really a part of the surprise anyway, as she insisted she needed some guidance as to what she should wear.

"You are such a tease, Mr. Spock. I don't know how I put up with you." Her pretend annoyance was amusing and exactly why he had said he did not want to discourage her from trying to figure out the surprise.

Dinner was somewhat uneventful, they ate and talked as they always did, but by the end Nyota was practically bursting with curiosity. She almost consented to skip dessert so she could find out the surprise sooner, almost.

After leaving the restaurant Spock waved down a public hovercar and gave the driver the address. He saw Nyota eye him curiously but said nothing the whole time.

As they approached the location Spock turned to her. "I have once request," he said "cover your eyes just until we are out of the car."

She laughed and gave him a questioning look. "Where is all this coming from?"

"I have read that, in many human relationships, one partner will attempt to surprise the other with some grand gesture and that the covering of the other partner's eyes is a part of this ritual," he felt his ears grow hot with slight embarrassment.

Her expression softened and she smiled slightly. "Alright," she said, closing her eyes. "Does this count?"

"Yes, that will be sufficient."

The car came to a stop and Spock opened the door, leading Nyota by the hand onto the sidewalk. "Okay," he said standing right behind her into her ear, "you can open your eyes."

She blinked a few times and read the signs of the building they were standing outside: Nightclub Q, dance hall. He heard her gasp before turning to him. "You actually brought me to a nightclub?" she said, incredulously. "I can't believe this, you are amazing," she said before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him.

Immediately she jumped back "Oh Spock, I'm sorry I forgot we were out in public," she said looking around for anyone who may have noticed.

"Don't worry, I chose this place because I read that it is too far for many people from the Academy to find it worth visiting. We should be just like any other couple while we're here." She smiled, appreciating the effort he had put into his "grand gesture".

"Shall we enter then?" he said, offered her his arm.

"Yes, I think we shall," she responded, a note of humor in her voice, as she took his arm.

The club was dark with colored lights flashing over the entire multi-level club. There was a bar to the left of the entrance and Nyota led them after they her checked their coats. Although she had already had two glasses of wine at dinner she ordered three of the bar's mixed shots.

"I understand that these places are more enjoyable if the patrons are slightly intoxicated," Spock said as they waited for her order, "and I thought I should not be an exception to this custom." He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a Star Fleet regulation chocolate bar.

"Spock, I can't believe this," she laughed, her eyes lighting up. "Have you ever had chocolate before?"

"Yes, although never intentionally," there were a few separate occasions when he had eaten small bits of it before but had certainly never been intoxicated. He had calculated, however, that if he were to eat the whole chocolate bar he brought that he would be at a level of intoxication known as "buzzed".

The bartender brought Nyota's shots over as he began to unwrap the chocolate bar. "Well then," she said raising one of her shots up to him "cheers." She tossed the shot back in one gulp and he took a bite of the chocolate bar. It was sweet, a little too sweet for his Vulcan tastes, and he felt himself recoil slightly from the taste.

"Not good?" Nyota asked, apparently recognizing his displeasure from a slight facial cue he had spent so much of his life training out of himself.

"No, unfortunately I have never understood your enjoyment of chocolate but then alcohol does not carry the horrible taste I understand it does for you."

She raised her second shot to her lips and he took another bite, half done with the bar.

"Well you're missing out then, chocolate is fantastic," she said jokingly, raking her hair back from her face with her fingers. He watched her fingers with great interest as he took another bite of the chocolate bar.

"Alright, one bite and one shot left. Ready?" she said, offering her last glass to him. He tapped it with the remaining bite of chocolate before tossing it into his mouth while she made quite the show of taking her last shot.

He placed the wrapper on the bar next to her empty glasses and took her hand. "Shall we," he said, leading her to the dance floor.


	16. Chapter 16

The dance floor was crowded and difficult to maneuver in, Spock did not want to push anyone out of their way so Nyota took over and lead them through the mass of people. The music was loud and fast with a bass that he could feel in his chest.

When they were half way to the center of the crowd, Nyota stopped and turned to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He moved his hands up to her lower back and pulled her closer so that they were less than a foot away from each other. He noticed a dangerous look in her eye as she began dancing, moving her hips to the beat of the song. He took his cue from her and began to move his hips as well but noticed that many of the other couples around them were dancing very close to each other so that their hips connected in a very provocative way.

He saw that Nyota's expression was alternating between smiling and that same devious look she'd had before, tossing her hair and moving her feet in small steps forward and backward. The music never stopped but continued uninterrupted with changes in beat and sound instead. As they danced he began to feel his balance slipping and the world growing hazy as though focusing on anything more than what was right in front of him were a challenge. He also began to notice the sweat forming on Nyota's hairline and felt one bead trickle down her back, reminding him of their sexy afternoon in his office.

He pulled her closer without thinking so that their faces were inches apart, closer than they normally would be when standing chest-to-chest with her heels giving her some added height. She had one foot between his own and the other slightly behind his right so that their hips connected. Then she began to grind her hips against his own to the beat.

He immediately felt the stimulation to his cock and ground his hips against hers in unison, wrapping one arm around her waist and moving the other behind her back to grip her shoulder and hold her against him. She was breathing harder and saw she had focused her eyes on his lips but hadn't leaned in.

The continued grinding their hips together, Spock taking the lead at some point. His cock was getting hard and saw the exact moment Nyota felt it on her thigh; she looked into his eyes and smiled lopsidedly before grinding her hips against him with greater purpose. He leaned down as she arched her back and began to kiss her neck, moving his lips down to her expose collar bone as she flipped her hair away from his face.

They no longer were grinding together to the beat of the song but rather to their own rhythm they created, slower and more purposeful. She moaned into his ear, more to excite him than to express her pleasure, and he bit down on her neck before sucking on the same spot. She ran her hands up his back and grabbed the back of his hair.

He pulled away from her neck and found the slight motion threw his entire body off balance. "Nyota, you are amazing," he said in an unusually raspy voice, touching his forehead to hers.

She giggled, "You're drunk, Spock," she moved her mouth to his ear "and so _fucking_ hot."

He pulled back quickly and kissed her forcefully, a little too forcefully, and she pulled back slightly before kissing him back. They ran their hands over each other, still moving their hips, as though their hands were looking for something but they didn't know what.

Nyota hooked her left leg around Spock's right to bring them closer before moaning into their kiss. "I think maybe we should get out of here," she said, looking right into his eyes.

He didn't hesitate and grabbed her hand to lead her to the club exit. He found it fairly difficult to navigate not because of crowded room but because of his impaired balance. When they reached the wall he turned to Nyota and pulled her arm so she was close to him before pushing her against the wall, both of his hands beside her face, and kissed her hard for a moment.

"So, where are we going?" he said, throat dry, in a teasing voice.

"Let's go to your quarters, it's late and if we're careful no one will notice," she said, running her hands up and down his sides.

"Hey!" Spock heard behind him. He turned and Nyota looked around his shoulder for the man who had called them. "Are you okay?" he said, addressing Nyota.

She giggled again. "Yes, I'm fine. My boyfriend here and I were getting a little carried away." She ran her hand down his arm and laced their fingers together, causing his erection to strain at the public Vulcan kiss.

The man looked annoyed. "Alright well take that somewhere else then," he turned away from them grumbling about the "stupid kids" who come by. Spock was sure a human would not have been able to hear him.

"So," Nyota said, turning her attention to him while she slid her fingers back and forth through his, "your place?"

* * *

When they reached the door to his quarters Spock began to realize just how great a risk they had taken. The ride back had given him enough time for his head to mostly clear but Nyota was set on them going to his quarters for the night and, as she had said, the building was mostly asleep so they encountered no one. But that had entirely been luck. All worry left his mind, however, once they were through his quarters' door.

Nyota kissed Spock immediately, hard and forceful, and he responded in kind, wrapping his arms around her and leaning into her so that her back arched. She reached forward and untucked his shirt before attempting to unbutton it. He ran his hands down to her ass and lifted her so she could wrap her legs around his waist. Still slightly off balance the force of her weight caused him to stumble backwards slightly into the wall where he prompted himself for support while she continued with the button of his shirt.

"Spock, I need this," she said, her voice full of lust. He felt his cock twitch but her words stopped him. He quickly put her down and moved around her so there was some distance between them.

"Nyota, we," he paused, wanted so badly to not have to say his next words. "We can't have sex you know what will happen. And you are intoxicated, I would not want to take advantage of you."

She looked slightly deflated, his words apparently an unpleasant reminder. "Right, no sex, that fucking bond," she paused for a moment before the irreverence of her words occurred to her. "Oh, no, Spock I didn't mean that I know bonds are special to Vulcans. I just wish they weren't so sexually frustrating," she finished with a small smile. Her expression slowly changed and she began to slowly walk towards him, "but we can still—"

"No," he said, cutting her off and taking another step away. "No you are intoxicated and we cannot do anything while that is the case."

"Spock-"

"No," he said again, "please, not tonight." He had already learned that if he gave her the chance if would not be difficult to persuade him to change his mind on his proper behavior.

"Alright," she said resining to his decision. She took a few steps around his quarters, "so what do you want to do then, I'm here so I might as well stay for a while and its only 2:30."

He found it amusing she considered 2:30 to be early and gave her question some thought. "I can make some tea and we can watch another holovid," he offered.

She smiled and took a seat on the small couch. "Sounds great."


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note**: Sorry for the long wait for this chapter but I was pretty busy and this one is lengthy. I'll be honest this mostly smut so enjoy

* * *

Spock woke up a few hours later with Nyota curled into his side. The holoscreen was still on but the vid has ended at some point after they had fallen asleep. Spock noticed that his head was much clearer but that his body was stiff and he wanted to stretch but was worried he would wake Nyota if he tried. He looked over at the clock and saw it was still the middle of the night, too early for her to wake up for the day.

Not wanting to disturb her but also not wanting to make her sleep on the coach, Spock reached forward slowly and moved his right arm under her knees and his left behind her back. He stood up slowly so as not to jostle her too much and began to carry her to his bedroom.

She began to open her eyes, however, and lifted her head to look up at Spock. "Hey," she said groggily, "we fell asleep".

"Yes, you may go back to sleep, Nyota. I was just bringing you somewhere more comfortable," he placed her on his bed and pulled his sheets over her. He remained standing, not entirely sure where to go and watcher her rub her eyes.

"Come 'ere, Spock," she said scooting across the bed and patting the spot beside her. When he hesitated she looked up at him and smiled. "Don't worry, I'll be good."

Not entirely reassured that her being "good" would mean nothing would happen, he climbed under the sheet beside her. She put her head on the place where his should met his torso and ran her left hand over his muscular chest, sighing in contentment.

"Spock, you are the most amazing man I've ever met," she said softly, her eyes still closed. He raised his left arm and wrapped it around her back so he could stroke her long black hair, it felt soft and silky.

"I think you are amazing too, Nyota," he said quietly before lightly kissing the top of her head, "go to sleep."

"Mmmm," was all she responded with before her hand stilled and she began to fall asleep. Spoke continued to stroke her hair, thinking about how good she felt against him, before finally falling asleep himself.

* * *

Spoke awoke the following morning to the sound and smell of cooking in his kitchen. When he reached across the bed he found it empty and realized it was Nyota cooking, interesting. He rose from bed still feeling that same bodily achiness from the middle of the night and went to his kitchen to investigate.

When he got there is saw Nyota had changed out of her dress from the night before and was wearing one of his sleep shirts, long enough on her it fell just past her shapely ass. Her hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail and some of her makeup was smudged but her eyes still looked vibrant and beautiful.

"Hey, sorry, I didn't want to wake you up but I wanted thought I should do something for you after your amazing surprise so I made breakfast," she said turning to speak to him when she heard him enter the kitchen. She was pushing scrambled eggs with onions and green peppers around in a skillet.

"That was very kind of you, you are very thoughtful," he said truly touched by the gesture. Ordinarily he would have gone of his morning run at this hour but he decided he would instead spent this time with Nyota. "Is there anything I can do?" he offered.

"No I think everything's pretty much good here but you could put out some plates, it'll be ready soon," she turned her back from him again to watch the food and Spock swept his eyes over her long legs before getting the plates and cups from the cabinet.

When the food was done she scooped some onto each of their plates and he poured them each a glass of orange juice. As they took their seats Nyota looked down at their plates and laughed.

"Is there something amusing?" Spock asked, not understanding what on their plates could cause laughter.

"It's just that this is such an American breakfast and I'm African and you're Vulcan. I feel like I should have gotten a bit more creative," she said taking a first bite of eggs. Following her lead he ate some as well and was surprised by the taste.

"I have never eaten this before," he said, taking another bite. "I only have the eggs to use in other recipes."

"You've never had scrambled eggs before?" she said with a hit of surprise through a bite of eggs. "Well I hope mine are a good representation then."

They continued to eat and talk as they usually did. Nyota asked Spock about his experience bring drunk and they compared notes to see if the effects were truly felt the same way—they were. Then Spock asked Nyota if she enjoyed dancing and confessed that he too had found the experience enjoyable and would not be opposed to doing it again sometime.

"Spock," Nyota said when they had both finished eating after a short pause, "I don't know if you have any work to do but I know I don't and it's still only 10:00, would you mind if we just spent the day together? Here?" She reached across the table and lightly touched the back of his hand with her finger tips, a hopeful and innocent smile on her face.

"Well I do not have any work I find so pressing it must be done today and I would not be opposed to remaining her in your presence so no, I would not mind that at all," he said, already pleased with the prospect of spending so much time with her.

She smiled at him and rose to clear the plates. "Great! Well I know I could really use a shower, do you mind if I take up yours?" He stood to help her clean up as well but she was now pointedly avoiding his gaze.

"That would be acceptable," he said, wondering where he shyness had come from.

"Well don't you need to shower?" she asked, again looking away.

"I do but I can wait for you if you wish to shower first."

"That's true," she said, turning to him and apparently steeling herself to continue, "or we could share."

It took Spock a moment to grasp her meaning. She looked into his eyes, that same gleam of mischief in them but mixed with a slight fear of rejection. Spock realized she was afraid he would reject her; perhaps she thought he was not still interested in her. He was note sure, however, if what she was suggesting was a good idea but then again he had read—and seen—that showering as a couple was a common occurrence and she likely saw it as rather commonplace.

"Yes I suppose that it one option," he said cautiously. "However, my shower is regulation size and would not allow for a great deal of space for either of us."

Nyota smiled and that naughty glint intensified now that she knew he was interested in the idea, even if he would not admit it. "That's alright," she said, walking towards him and placing her arms around his neck, "we can just stand very close." She leaned her face in to kiss him and, in response, so did he before she suddenly pulled back and walked off towards his bathroom, swinging her hips.

He heard the water start before she called back, "so are you coming?"

He walked towards the bathroom and stepped. She was seated on the bathroom counter facing the shower waiting for him still dressed in his shirt which now just barely covered her panties. "Well," she said after a moment of him standing here, "are you going to shower?"

He was still wearing the dress shirt and pants from the night before and hesitated before beginning to unbutton the shirt. She watched his fingers intently and reached out to him when he had reached the last button. She lightly gripped his wrist and pulled him close so that he stood between her spread thighs then she ran her hands over his chest and pushed the shirt off his shoulders.

She continued to lightly run her fingers over his chest and looked up at him expectantly before reaching her right hand down and lifting his left between them. She looked into his eyes as she ran her fingers over his, lacing and unlacing them together. Spock felt shocks of pleasure run down his arm and his breath come faster. Then she look down at his hand, pulled it up to her mouth, and brought his first two fingers to her lips. Spock's eyes widened once he understood her intentions.

She gently kissed from the tips of his fingers down to the base. The shocks running though him intensified and he felt himself hardening. When she reached the base she locked eyes with him and ran her tongue along the underside as his every nerve exploded with pleasure. When she reached the tips she started sucking and he felt himself tilting his head back, lost in the feelings she was creating.

While she alternated between lightly kissing, licking with her tongue flat, and sucking his fingers she used her free hand to work his pants down his hips slightly. Spock realized what she was doing and stilled her hand for a moment before she batted him away and continued.

Once she had his pants loose she started on his boxers, releasing his fingers for a moment and using both of her hands to pull them down. His erection caught for a moment on the waist before his cock sprang free and he was sure, from the gleam in Nyota's eyes, she did it on purpose.

She reached for his cock with her left hand and raised his fingers to her mouth again with her right. Spock was in ecstasy as she sucked his fingers and pumped his cock, a hand job and a Vulcan blowjob all at once.

Better still for him was the knowledge of how pornographic such an act was for Vulcans and that some of the sensations he was feeling were transferring to her telepathically. Breathing hard he looked down and realized that she was fidgeting on the counter and reached forward without thinking.

He reached his free hand down to her moist underwear and felt the evidence of how much she was enjoying this. He attempted to slide her underwear down before she removed both hands from him, releasing his fingers, to lift herself from the counter so he could pull them down.

With her open to him, Spock began rubbing his fingers in the wetness gathered there, lubricating them before traveling upwards to her clit. The feeling in his hand as he touched her was wonderful, different from the one she created by sucking him, but still erotic. He was circling the small bud of nerves when he felt and heard Nyota moan around his fingers, her hand moving faster on his cock and her sucking becoming more insistent.

Some part of him knew that he could not last much longer and it looked like she wouldn't either. She continued rolling her hips on his fingers, breathing hard through her nose while he rocked his hips hard into her hand, pumping his cock in a fast growing frenzy.

Suddenly Nyota bit the pad of his finger tip lightly and he was lost. He bit down on her exposed neck and felt himself cum over her hand in spurts as he rocked himself in her grasp. She slowly removed her mouth from him and when she did he reached for the back of her neck and pulled her in for a frantic and deep kiss.

He continued rubbing her clit before moving his second hand under her dress to finger her pussy. As he inserted his two fingers she shuddered and began rolling her hips more forcefully. Spock then shifted his approach and began tapping her clit fast with his index finger, in seconds she was gone. She pulled his head into her chest as she threw her own head back. Spock resumed his circles on her clit until she had come down for the high he had experienced himself only moments before.

"Spock," she breathed, chest heaving. "Spock, you're amazing," she said before kissing him deeply. She was out of breath but he was not yet done.

He gripped the hem of her shirt, his shirt, and yanked it over her head before attaching his mouth to her left nipple, his fingers running over the other. She made soft noise of pleasure before he moved his free hand under her and picked her up.

He carried her into the running shower and pushed her back against the wall so she was propped against him; they were both drenched in moments. He began kissing up her neck, biting and sucking, knowing he would leave a mark on her skin and relishing the thought of her walking around with his marks on her skin. She moaned and ran her nails up and down his back with her legs wrapped around his waist.

He was already hard again and in need of some release but began working his fingers down to her clit again. With her own juices and the water running over his fingers he began rubbing fast, hard, circles over her clit. He felt her shaking against him, her eyes closed tight with sounds of the tortuous pleasure he was brining escaping her lips.

He felt she was close and inserted two fingers from his other hand, rubbing her g-spot. After just second he felt her legs convulse around him and her walls clamp down on his fingers. He didn't stop his work on her clit and he watched her face as her orgasm kept coming, her eyes rolling back for a moment before he finally slowed his movements and pulled out his fingers. There were tears running down her face and for a moment Spock was worried she was upset before she leaned in to kiss him but did little more than touch her lips to his, she was utterly exhausted and needed a moment to recover.

He held her there against the wall of the shower while the water ran over them and she caught her breath. She was leaning her head on the tiled wall with her eyes closed. He watched her chest heave, mesmerized by her perfect breasts, and felt an echo of her pleasure running through his entire body. His cock was becoming painfully in need of attention.

After a few moments she ran her hands over his chest and reopened her eyes only to lean in and kiss him again. She ran her hand down to his cock and felt at the base that it was erect. She pulled away from him and moved to stand on her own. Without breaking eye contact she reached around him for his shampoo, poured some in her hand, and began washing his hair. She scrubbed lightly on his scalp before guiding him to rinse the soap out under the water. Then she did the same to her own hair all while still looking him square in the eye.

Next she grabbed his body soap, the only other bottle in the shower, and squeezed him into her hand. She ran her soapy hands over her breasts, her stomach, her thighs while the water ran and he watched her, his cock twitching periodically with desire. It took a great deal of restraint to keep himself from reaching for her right then.

When she had rinsed the soap from her body she turned back to him and ran her soapy hands over his chest, his arms, his abs. She worked her way lower, looking into his face, until she was in a kneeling position in front of him. She ran her soapy hands over his hips and the top of his thighs before finally wrapping her thumb and middle finger around the base of his cock. The soap had run off his body and she reached her tongue out to lightly lick the tip; she hardly touched him but he nearly came right then and there.

Then she tilter her head up and moved farther down to lick his balls, running her tongue over both slowly before sucking one into her mouth. His hips bucked forward slightly, he had never felt something like this before. After a few moments of sucking and swirling her tongue around one ball she switcher to the other. He reached down and ran his hands through her wet hair as she went.

Then her mouth released him and moved her head back up to his cock. She slowly added more fingers to the hand at the base before licking his cock more fully, running the flat of her tongue over the entire tip. She moved slowly, taking long sweeping passed over the underside of his cock with the flat of her tongue and moving her thumb slight over the base.

After a few moments she leaned forward and wrapped her lips around the tip before sliding all the way down his cock to her fingers. He felt his hips buck again and every nerve scream with pleasure as she began to bob her head on his cock. He gripped her hair more tightly, forcing her back down onto his cock every time she came up.

She was moving faster and he felt himself getting closer before she moved her hand from the base of his cock and began taking his entire cock into her throat. She had her hands on his hips for support and moved her entire head fast, sucking hard between breaths. He was shaking and he was bucking into her mouth, fucking her face hard as she went. She looked up at him and their eyes locked, her mouth full of his cock, and he lost it, cumming hard into her mouth. She continued sucking as he came and he felt his every muscle contract, lost entirely to the pleasure she was giving him.

When he was done she pulled her mouth away and licked one last time up the length of his cock before standing. He kissed her with as much effort as he could muster before shutting off the water and reaching for a towel.


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Note:**

Sorry for the ridiculous break, I had finals they my power cord broke and I was without a computer until I got a replacement. I hope some of you will keep up after that and that you like the newest installment!

* * *

They spent the remainder of the day together. After their shower, Spock and Nyota toweled off and passed out together in Spock's bed, exhausted by their bathroom escapades.

When Spock woke up again it was 1:00 and he was again hungry. He attempted to slide out of bed without waking Nyota but accidentally jostled her when he tried to pull his arm out from under her head and she woke up. They were both still naked from their shower and Spock tried not to stare at Nyota's perfect round ass while she looked up at him from the bed, lying on her stomach.

He grabbed a pair of workout pants and a t-shirt for himself and a pair of shorts and a smaller t-shirt for her, feeling her eyes on him as he moved about his room.

They made lunch together and Nyota brought their plates into the living room so they could eat on the couch and watch the half of the holovid they had slept through the night before. When they had finished eating, Spock moved his hand around Nyota's back and slowly ran his fingers over her hair.

When the vid ended Nyote turned to Spock and said she wanted to do something, go somewhere. Spock considered for a moment.

Already he knew they would face the problem of having to sneak Nyota out of his quarters and, seeing as it was still early enough there would be many residents outside, now does not seem like such a bad time. He was not sure where they could go, however, and not be conspicuous.

"We could go to that little park by the water off campus," Nyota suggested, seeming to have read his mind.

"Yes, that would be private I believe," Spock said, shifting on the couch to stand.

He added his PADD and some assorted work to his briefcase while Nyota, as she put, "made herself look appropriate for leaving his apartment". He also packed a PADD for Nyota to use, assuming she would want to read while they lounged in the park.

When she emerged from his bedroom Spock noticed she had put a bra on under the shirt he had given her before and found a large hooded jacket. Her shoes had been a problem as she could not wear the heels from the night before but she had found a pair of his hiking boot and laced them tightly so they wouldn't fall off then wore some long pants over the tops to make the adjustment less obvious. The effect was she looked like a mess of baggy clothes, an outfit that could be worn nowhere besides and university where she would surely be among friends in her fashion choices. As a finished touch she pulled a hat over her head, obscuring her eyes.

"So," Nyota said, holding her arms out and posing in her outfit, "how do I look?"

Spock understood she was joking but, despite the layers of clothes she was hidden under, the only word that came to mind was _sexy_. Nyota laughed as his eyes ran up and down her body, his mouth open searching for a more appropriate response.

"Let's just go," she sighed, moving towards his door and waiting for him to exit first.

He walked through the automatic doors and saw the hall was clear before motioning her to follow him. He was fully aware of the elaborate camera system throughout the dormitory but knew Star Fleet regulation prohibited access of this footage without suspicion of criminal activity. Of course if anyone were to suspect them there would now be plenty of evidence but there was nothing to be done about that, the potential damage had already been done.

Spock took the turbolift down first and left the building, heading for the nearest campus entrance. He walked a block from campus before stopping and waiting for Nyota. She walked slowly in the loos-fitting boots but took comfort that she would not be cold on the sunless day.

When she finally reached him they proceeded to walk together to the "park" Nyota had mentioned. A more accurate description would have been to call it "that plot of undeveloped land near the water" and plenty of Cadets did. At one point the space had been just dirt but some group decided it would look prettier from the tall buildings nearby if there were some grass on the two acre by two acre spot. Today it was left mostly alone except for at the very start and end of term when lawn space is a premium for Academy students looking to enjoy the weather and put off school work.

Although certainly not a picturesque date location in the dreary early December weather, it gave them the opportunity to remain in each other's company a little longer without needing to pretend to be in the middle of a professional meeting.

They sat together in the grass, Nyota's head leaning on Spock's chest, reading and chatting alternately for a few hours before the cold got to be too much for the warm weather natives. They packed up their things and made their way to the nearest coffee shop deemed too "local" for most Cadets, hoping to be able to appear to be tourists lost and cold.

Nyota snagged a table in a dark corner far from the door so as to retain at least the semblance of privacy while Spock ordered them each chamomile tea with honey, a drink Nyota had recommended to him for when working with languages sore on the throat, particularly Klingon.

When he returned to their table he swept the room again and saw that it was still clear of Cadets or anyone obviously associated with the Academy. The fact remained that, at least as far as any observer could tell, Spock was not violated any Academy regulations by having tea with a Cadet but he still felt it best to remain above suspicion.

They stayed in the coffee shop for well over and hour talking about the night before, the books they had been reading in the "park", how different the weather in San Francisco was from their respective home worlds. It wasn't until they had each finished their second mugs of tea that Nyota looked at her watch and sighed. She had promised to meet Gaila for dinner and give her some story about where she had been the night before.

Spock understood they could not spend all their time together but it was still difficult to have to say goodbye after spending the day together, after an amazing night and morning of carefree enjoyment of one another.

"Nyota," Spoke said, looking down into her deep brown eyes as he held her close in his arms against the cold around the corner from the coffee shop. He was unsure how best to explain to her what this day had meant to him. They had talked and laughed, behaved as though they had no secret to hide—not to mention their morning shower which Spock was still reeling from. "_This day has meant more to me than I can truly express, I only with it didn't have to end._"

Nyota responded in his native Vulcan, had hadn't even realized his own change in language. " '_All things must end but this is not an end, simply a pause in the growth of a wonderful creation.' " _ She had quoted a Vulcan poet he had recommended to her in one of their first meetings. He felt his lips twitch slightly before he leaned in for a slow passionate kiss. When they broke apart Nyota headed off on her own for her dinner with Gaila and Spock returned to his quarters for work on the _Enterprise_.


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's Note**:

Sorry for the break I took, I kind of lost interest with the story then I was studying abroad and totally forgot about it. Hopefully I'll keep up with it this time and finish it out for real. Thank you so much anyone who has stuck with the story and I'm so sorry I made everyone wait.

* * *

As was the usual trend for the few weeks between Thanksgiving and Winter Break, the Academy adopted an unusually studious air. Cadets were realizing they only had a short amount of time to get their grades up to their liking and began spending more of their time in the library than usual.

Spock found himself occupied with finalizing both his own exams and the exams he writes for other departments. Nyota, in the meantime, was busy studying for all of her own end of term exams which, to Spock's dismay, had left them little time to spend together outside of work. As was his usual policy, he left both his TA's (although, with how useless Spock was finding Morrison to have gotten, it was really just one) less work than usual to free them up for studying.

As the final week of term was approaching, however, Spock began to catch himself actually dreading it. True, he was never a fan of the long breaks where half of his duties at the Academy disappeared and he felt his skills being underused by Star Fleet, but this particular break felt like it would be worse, more difficult. He would not be able to see Nyota for nearly a month.

Worse than that, their time together just before the long break would be so limited by her studies and his exam work that they would be parting already with feelings of wanting to spend more time together. Although he did not have a solution to this problem, Spock intended to discuss their impending separation when Nyota arrived in his office for their usual afternoon office work.

When he heard the door open at her approach, programmed to recognize her ID, Spock turned in his chair to great her. "Hello, Nyota," he said as she walked into the room and dropped her unusually heavy bag down on her usual chair.

"Hello, Spock," she said with a smile, moving quickly across the room to him. Before he could stand up she was pushing him down into his chair and seating herself in his lap. She ran her hand over his chest as she leaned in close to him. "I've missed you." It was Monday and they had been unable to see each other since the previous Wednesday with Nyota spending the weekend and the Thursday and Friday Reading Days preparing for this week's exams.

"How did your exam go," he asked, knowing she'd begun her morning with her most difficult exam of the week.

"It was alright, I'm just glad it's over," she said with a sigh of exhaustion, still running her hand over his chest. "Now I get to be with you," she said leaning in for a deep kiss.

He felt her hand traveling lower down his abdomen and she began forcing her tongue into his mouth. Despite how much he missed her and missed _this_, he knew they did not have time: she would be spending the afternoon studying and he wanted to talk about the Winter Break.

As her fingers began to creep over his belt he reached forward and grabbed her wrist lightly while pulling his mouth away from hers. "Nyota," he said lightly, admonishingly.

"I know," she said, exasperatedly as she began to stand, "I know."

"I just want to be able to talk to you for a moment before you have to return to the library."

Surprised, Nyota frowned lightly and leaned on the edge of his desk for a seat. "Okay what's going on?"

"I would like to discuss the upcoming Winter Break with you. I sense it will be difficult for me to be away from your presence for so long and I am attempting to discern a way to prevent this difficulty but have as yet found none."

Nyota smiled sadly. "I'm going to miss you too, Spock. I feel like we've had so little time together since we actually _got together_," she said, using that human way of speaking where the same words can mean different thing. "I've been thinking about this too and maybe you could come visit me somehow?" she said questioningly.

"Do you think that would be possible?" Spock asked, doubting it would be.

Nyota sighed. "No really I don't but it would be nice," she said, reaching forward to hold his hand, their fingers apart to make the gesture a chaste one. "Do you think I could visit you somehow?"

"That is possible, in theory, I will be staying here for the duration of the break but you would have to get approval to return to the Academy." Travel to the Academy is heavily restricted for security reasons and anyone attempting to arrange transport must list a reason why they need it. This is normally not a problem but Nyota does not have an official reason to return to the Academy over the break which could be a problem.

"You're right," she said, slightly defeated. She was quiet for a moment, staring down at their hands, before her head popped up with an idea. "Are you staying at the Academy to work the whole time or do you have some days you're not working?" she asked excitedly.

"I do not have any specific work at the Academy, no. I was simply staying because my research is here."

"Then why don't we meet up somewhere else? I don't really have a lot of money to spend on an expensive trip somewhere but I think I could make it work."

Interesting, Spock had not considered this option simply because he did not think she would want to travel during break. He had expected they would simply agree on times to talk over video. "That would be acceptable, is there somewhere you would like to go?"

"I'll have to think about it and get back to you but maybe we could meet up just after the new year, local calendar."

"Alright notify me in the next few days and I can look into making the arrangements."

"Okay now let's go to lunch, I have just enough time for a quick bite in the Mess Hall."

* * *

Spock spent that night researching various low-cost travel locations fairly local to Nyota's home town when a new idea occurred to him. The cheapest way for them to travel would be if Spock were to sign out one of Star Fleet's personal shuttles. These shuttles were designed for space travel and were often used by staff for short trips off planet. That would be a great vacation for Nyota who, he knew, had yet to visit another planet.

Spock began doing some research so he could have something to present to Nyota.

* * *

The following evening was the first time Spock was able to see Nyota. She's had two exams that morning which left her with just one more before she was finished. Spock and Nyota were already planning on spending her last two days at the Academy together once her exams were finished and she was awaiting her Saturday afternoon transport.

That night, Spock had asked Nyota to meet him in one of the library's study rooms that he had signed out. She would only have to take a few moments out of her studying to speak to him before walking right back upstairs to her study group.

When she arrived, Spock saw that she was surprisingly frazzled compared to her normally sleek appearance. Although in uniform, as was regulation of all Cadets during the Term, her hair was in a messy braid and she looked more tired than usual. She was carrying a travel mug of something, likely coffee, and placed it on the table between them before falling into the chair across from Spock's. Although slightly concerned by her tired appearance, Spock proceeded with his outlining of his plan.

"As you know Officers stationed here at the Academy are permitted to sign out personal shuttles for recreational use. Most of these shuttles are unused during the Breaks as many Officers stationed here take public transport to get home for their longer stays. I thought that, in the interest of saving you money on travel, I might sign one out and collect you in Africa myself.

"As you also know, these shuttles are capable of warp travel and therefore open up a wider range of locations where we may go. I am proposing that we take a camping trip to Vulcan." He ended there and watched her face.

The tired look had slowly left her eyes as he told her his plan and now she was openly smiling. "You want to take me to Vulcan?" she exclaimed.

"Yes," he said simply. "As we cannot visit your home directly I thought we could see a bit of mine." He felt his ears burning again at the admission of sentimentality.

Nyota was beaming now. "Spock," she said, before stopping, apparently lost for words. She just stared at him, smiling, before reaching her hands under the table for his. She gently laced their fingers together and Spock felt a wave of affection for him coming from her. "When can we go?"


	20. Chapter 20

Spock could feel himself anticipating her arrival as he continued preparing dinner. It was finally Wednesday night and she was finished with exams—he still had a little more grading to do but that could wait, he would be spending Nyota's last few days at the Academy before break with her. He had already done a great deal of research into a possible visit to Vulcan and was ready to present her with her options if she were to decide such a trip were feasible.

Just was Spock was just spooning the ndengu he had prepared as an attempt at a Kenyan dish when he comm unit sounded. He checked the message and saw the Nyota would be entering the building soon. He was not to meet her in the lobby but she was to ask for directions to "her professor's quarters", he had "requested some work be brought to him by her, his TA". 45 seconds later Spock heard his door slide open and he looked up to see her walking into his quarters.

She was sliding her bag over her shoulder in what he could only describe as the most seductive way he had ever seen. Having hurried over from her exam she was still dressed in her Cadet uniform but he saw that this one was smaller than her others, tighter and definitely shorter. He also noticed she had styled her hair in loose curls around her face again, as she had when they had visited the night club. She was wearing slightly more makeup than was her normal everyday practice and appeared to glow.

"Hello, Spock," she said softly, crossing her legs and leaning back against his door. She raised her arm and crooked a finger at him, calling him forward. He went without hesitation.

When he reached her he began running his hands up and down her sides, enjoying the feel of the swell of her breast, the tautness of her stomach, the give of her hips. She was looking up at him with lidded eyes and biting her lip, a hand wrapped loosely around his neck.

"I have made dinner," he said, for lack of anything else to say to her. Something about her was so much more enticing right now than she normally was, what was it?

Nyota smiled, her eyes brightening as they always do, and looked around him to see the table he had arranged. She leaned off the wall and walked past him, heading for the table. As she did, she passed close to Spock and he got a strong whiff of _her_ scent and felt his physical reaction to her intensify.

"Oh Spock," she said quietly from behind him. He turned and saw a soft smiled on her face. "Did you make ndengu?"

"Yes. Or rather I tried, I will leave you to be the judge of my success."

She took her seat and Spock moved to the one across from her. She took a bite immediately and he monitored her reaction closely. She appeared surprised, whether or not that was a good thing remained to be seen.

"This is actually very good, I thought the ingredients would make it difficult to make here but this could easily have been made in Kenya."

"I appreciate your appraisal, I will consider this experiment a success then," Spock said, feeling lighter now that he knew she liked it and that she had stopped doing to him whatever she had been doing.

They continued eating, Spock asking about how Nyota's exam went and glad to hear it had gone well. Nyota asked how Spock's grading was going and if there was anything she should help him with. He reiterated the point that he did not generally assign exam grading to TA's as they already had their own exams to worry about. She smiled at the comment, perhaps at the idea of him being considerate of his TA's needs.

When their conversation had reached a quiet point and they had finished eating, Spock moved to clear their plates but Nyota moved her fingers to the back of his hand to stop him. She stood silently and he saw that the same heavy lidded look from before was back. Without saying a word or taking her fingers from his hand, she moved around the table. She rested her free hand on the back of Spock's chair, inches from his face, and leaned into him. Spock felt himself reacting immediately, his heart rate increasing and his breathing coming faster, what was she doing to him?

He considered for a moment before realizing the answer was simple: she was seducing him. Usually she did not do anything for him to find her nearly irresistibly attractive but now that she was actively trying attracting him…

She bit her lip again and shoved the back of his chair so that he was facing her more directly and the table was no longer in the way.

"Spock," she whined, "I've missed you." Her inflection made it clear it was not just his company she had missed and he felt a jolt in his lower abdomen. As if she knew how he had reacted, she moved forward and slowly sat herself on his lap. She ran her right hand over his chest while he left slid slowly down his arm before lightly gripping his wrist and bringing it up to her. She had been maintaining eye contact nearly this whole time and Spock was beginning to feel the telltale signs of his erection starting to strain his pants.

She ran her right hand up to his jaw before slowly leaning in to kiss him. As their lips connected, she slid her fingers along his and Spock felt a new surge of need flood through him. She was keeping their kissed gentle but he need more of her.

He bit her bottom lip and began moving their fingers more forcefully. Nyota gasped slightly and that only spurred him on. She responded in kind and he could feel her rubbing her tights together in his lap. He was running his free hand up her side before firmly gripping her breast. It was the most intense kiss they had ever shared.

* * *

After who knows how long Spock felt himself needing more. He continued running his hands over her body, gripping her hip then moving to her breast and back down again. He moved his lips to her neck and was first kissing then lightly biting her soft skin, tasting her.

"Oh, Spock," Nyota gasped and Spock felt his cock twitch. That was it, he needed her.

He picked her up smoothly from where they were sitting and carried her to his bedroom. He roughly dropped her on the bed and began climbing over her before she had a moment to adjust. He began kissing lower down the neckline of her dress. When he encountered fabric he balled it up in both fists and ripped it cleanly down the middle, creating an ever deepening V.

He realized a moment too late that Nyota might have been upset by this but when he looked up to her she had her head tossed back and was running her fingers though his hair. She appeared not to care.

He continued kissing his way down her body until he reached her panties. He gripped the elastic waist and pulled them down, Nyota lifting her hips off the bed so he could pull them off. With nothing in his way he took in the sight of her pussy, glistening with her lust for him. He began running his fingers over her pussy lips and watched as she squirmed on the mattress before him.

Without thinking he reached his tongue forward and licked up her slit with the flat of his tongue. He heard her gasp and felt his cock stir in his painfully restricting pants, spurring him on. He continued to run his tongue along her lips, tasting her juices, as Nyota alternated between gripping the bed and running her fingers though his hair.

After a few moments of this torture, Spock moved his mouth higher and began sucking and licking her clit. At this Nyota arched off the bed and forced Spock's face deeper into her pussy, breathing hard. He continued with his mouth at her clit and snaked a finger into her pussy before quickly stroking her g-spot. She left out a breathless moan and arched her back up again, her thighs trembling around Spock's head. He knew she was close and quickened his movements, sucking harder while running his tongue over her clit.

In moments he heard then felt her cum on his face as she let out a strained cry, her breathing too hard for anything else. Then he felt the walls of her pussy contract in waves around his finger and tasted a new release of her juices. He licked them up as she started to come down from her orgasm.

The sight of her cuming from his mouth had been one of the most beautiful and arousing he had ever seen. After lapping up her juices, Spock moved up the bed besides Nyota and kissed her deeply. Regaining herself, Nyota reached out and began removing Spock's shirt. He sat up and yanked it off roughly, letting it fall to the floor, before leaning back down to nibble on her neck.

He felt Nyota's hands at his pants as she attempted to remove them. He shifted to help her work them off and felt her finger tips brush his cock, sending a shiver down his spine. Some part of him knew they needed to be somewhat careful, he was worried she would try to take things too far. Another part of him, however, wanted to pin her to the bed and fuck her senseless while mind melding—he would have to keep that part quiet.

When his pants were off, Nyota sat up on her knees and Spock followed suit, finally unhooking her bra as she shrugged off the tattered remains of her Cadet uniform. Nyota pulled down his boxers roughly, looking him straight in the eye as she did and he had to resist taking her then and there.

With his cock free, Nyota moved around Spock and shoved his shoulder, telling him to lie back. He did so and she began running her hand up and down his leaking cock. Watching her orgasm at his own hand (mouth?) had been nearly enough to push him over and knew she would not need to work very hard to make him cum.

After a few moments, she dipped her head down, pulling her hair out of her way, and began sucking on the tip. Suddenly she dipped her head down and took him onto her mouth, her eyes locked to his. He felt himself getting close and came hard as she bobbed her head up and down his cock, watching him all the while and he unable to look away. He threw his head back and thrust up into her mouth reflexively as she swallowed his cum down.

She kept sucking him for a moment longer to collect all his cum before releasing him and climbing her way back up his body. She kissed her way up his chest before laying herself beside him, her head in that space on his shoulder she liked to much. She was loosely sliding her fingers along his and he could feel her exhaustion, satisfaction and it mirrored his own. He leaned over and kissed the top of her head before gripping the sheet and throwing it over the both of them. After only five minutes he sensed Nyota had fallen asleep, their fingers still twined together. He enjoyed the sensation of her sleeping mind alongside his before eventually succumbing to exhaustion himself.


	21. Chapter 21

Spock awoke Thursday morning with Nyota still curled against him, her head on his shoulder, feeling incredibly well rested. He was sure her had slept far later than was normal for him but Nyota has certainly done her best to tire him out the night before. Knowing she was still tired and behind on sleep from her recent studying, Spock climbed out of bed as carefully as possible so as not to wake her.

Standing, he took a moment to take in her largely exposed naked form and revel in the knowledge that the beautiful, smart, talented creature before him was his. As he stepped around his bed he noticed the torn remains of Nyota's uniform from the night before and felt a short flash of pleasure shoot through him.

He pulled out a new pair of boxers and loos-fitting athletic pants before quietly walking out to his bathroom. He attempted to neaten his hair and brush his teeth, feeling a slight chill with his room set to a human-accommodating temperature for Nyota and no shirt on. He considered putting one on before picturing the look Nyota would give him if he were walking around shirtless all morning and decided against it.

Spock checked his clock and saw it was nearly 9:00. Not wanting to spend his limited time with Nyota working, Spock decided to get ahead in his duties for the way now while she slept. After working—reading through journal, reviewing _Enterprise _construction reports, etc—for approximately two hours, Spock heard Nyota beginning to stir in the other room. He had already realized that they had never gotten the chance to discuss his research into Nyota's possible visit to Vulcan the night before and planned to make that the morning's first priority.

A few moments later Nyota stepped out of his bedroom and moved towards Spock's desk where he was working. She had put on one of his longer athletic shirts and, apparently, nothing else despite having brought a bag of her own clothes to wear.

As she approached him, she moved behind his chair and wrapped her arms around his neck, running her palms down his chest, before planning a soft kiss on his cheek and moving away to take a seat on the couch. She was smiling, apparently pleased at something, and Spock realized his facial expression was a reaction to her touch.

"Good morning, Spock," she said with a smile.

"Good morning, Nyota. Would you like me to get you anything from the replicator?" he responded, rising to order their breakfasts.

"Sure. How about," she paused for a moment to consider, "a plate of bacon and waffles."

"Of course," Spock responded, punching in the directions for her breakfast and his own, Plomeek broth. When the replicator had their food ready he brought their meals to his table as Nyota sauntered over to take her seat. When she had begun cutting into her waffles, Spock decided it was time to present her with his research.

"I have been looking into the logistics of your visiting Vulcan with me over the course of the Semester Break and I believe I have come to the most logical conclusion of how this may be accomplished." Spock paused for a moment to allow her to respond.

Nyota's face lit up and she reached a hand out to his own, her fingertips resting on the backs of his. "Really?" she asked excitedly.

Spock turned his hand over so their fingertips touched. "Really. Would you like me to present you with my findings?"

A small smirk appeared on Nyota's lips. "Yes that would be acceptable," she said in what he decided was meant to be a mocking tone.

"I believe the best time to visit would be shortly after the new Terran year in roughly the middle of the Break. Additionally, it is the equivalent of late fall on Vulcan right now and we would do well to visit closer to winter where the daily temperature would be far lower and more manageable for a human.

"As I understand finances are a concern, I propose that, rather than procure rental lodging, we camp just outside the city of ShiKahr near the L-langon Mountains. From there we would be able to see not only the mountains but travel to other parts of Vulcan you may wish to see. Do you find this acceptable?"

Their fingertips still lightly touching, Spock was able to sense Nyota's feelings as he had told her his plan. She had initially been excited by the whole idea but he felt some sudden sadness take hold of her and saw he face fall slightly when he had finished. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No, Spock," she said with a great sigh. "I know it is illogical but I just wish that there was some way I could meet your family while on Vulcan. We're going to be so close but we have to hide instead."

"It is unfortunate we cannot make our relationship know but I thought we had decided this was the best course of action," Spock said, slightly confused.

Nyota reached farther forward and laced their fingers together and Spock felt her thoughts and feelings form more solidly in his mind.

"It is the best course of action but it still makes me sad," she said. And Spock felt her sadness, her wish to tell her friends, her family, his family, everyone. Her disappointment that they would have to hide even on Vulcan where they could be anonymous in so many ways.

Spock was fascinated, they had never communicated their thoughts like this. It was remarkably similar to the way bonded couples could communicate when separated and Spock wondering if this indicated a new depth to their relationship or simply a new discovery of the way physical telepathic contact worked.

Spock, wanting to comfort her, began pushing his feelings of affection towards her through and saw her face change when she received them. She smiled slightly and began sending him the same feelings although somehow more powerfully. Her love, and that was certainly what she thought it was, felt different, lighter and happy. Fascinating.

* * *

Spock and Nyota spent the rest of the day together in the heart of the city. Spock did not particularly need anything but knew Nyota wanted to do some shopping and have some general fun wandering the city she had spent so little time exploring. And Spock just wanted to spend time with her.

After showering, separately this time, and getting dressed, Nyota left the apartment and Spock followed her out a few minutes later. They met back up a few blocks from campus and got a cab into the city. Their first stops were a series of clothing stores Nyota wanted to stop in as they walked around. Spock was highly confused by the idea of simply wandering around the city and buying things at random but began to enjoy himself more when Nyota insisted on trying on various outfits for Spock. She seemed to grow more interested in the ridiculous and revealing outfits as they went along.

After a few hours of Nyota shopping and Spock trailing along, content in her happiness alone, they took a break for lunch. Again they simple stopped somewhere Nyota found intriguing as they continued wandering but Spock found himself satisfied with the restaurant's vegetarian options and enjoyed his vegan paella. After lunch, Nyota said she was ready to head back to campus and they hailed another cab to get back.

On the ride back, as Nyota told Spock about her plans with her parents when she is home, his communicator chimed indicating a message. Spock checked it and saw he had a message from Captain Pike asking to meet him for drinks that night, a surprise because Spock had thought him to still be traveling on recruitment tours. Spock did not want to lose a moment of time with Nyota but saw no satisfactory explanation for why he could not meet with him that night. On top of that, Spock had not seen Pike since before Thanksgiving break.

"What is it?" Nyota asked him, noticing his reaction to the message.

"Captain Pike wishes to meet with me tonight for drinks," he replied.

"Oh," Nyota said, a little deflated. "Well that's okay," she continued, looking for a bright side. "I'll just join you after you get back then. You don't usually stay out too late do you?"

"No and that will be acceptable. It is still fairly inconvenient however, I had intended to spend the entire night with you," Spock said, surprisingly playful.

Nyota laughed and laced their fingers together and immediately he felt her pushing her affection towards him again. Interesting. "I'm sure the rest of the night will be enough and tomorrow I was thinking we could stay in, just lounge around your quarters," she smiled in a consciously sexy way and Spock understood she did not just mean watching holovids.

When the cab came to a stop, again one block from campus, they began walking to campus together, professional manner back intact. Spock had not gone on his morning run, something that happened almost every morning after Nyota stayed with him, and Nyota wanted a chance to get in her own daily workout so they separated at the gate and headed to their respective quarters to change and meet back up in the gym.

Following their workouts, not exactly a couple activity, they headed to the Campus Mess Hall for dinner before Spock had to leave to shower and head out to meet Captain Pike.


	22. Chapter 22

Spock's evening with Captain Pike progressed as usual: they met up at the prearranged bar, ordered and consumed a few drinks, talked, and went their separate ways after a few hours. Spock had spent much of the evening filling the Captain in on the progress of the ship's construction (everything was looking good to be completed on schedule) and how officer assignment was going. He had been scouring active duty rosters for weeks selecting crew members for positions the Captain had not filled himself and had successfully selected nearly 40% of the crew. He was planning to leave a decent number of low-level positions open for Cadets with promise who would be selected by their department heads closer to launch which meant he only had approximately another 35% of the roster left to fill. Pike was pleased at the progress.

Apparently, recruitment tours were not terribly enjoyable to the Captain who made it no secret he much preferred active duty on a ship. Unfortunately, Captaining the new flagship has certain duties and remaining on-planet and available during the final years of the ship's construction was one of them. Of course, it would seem, the division of duties seemed to have been chosen with purpose: Pike was the Starfleet recruiter and Spock was the ship planner.

As was also customary, Pike spent the last 30 minutes of their time together reminiscing about their adventures aboard the _USS Concord _while it was posted along the Romulan Neutral Zone. Eventually, however, Pike finished his story and his drink and Spock felt the slightest twinge of relief as Pike rose to conclude their meeting. Of course he did not dislike spending time with Pike but his time with Nyota was short and he did not like losing any of it.

When Spock returned to his room Nyota was waiting for him dressed only in another one of his t-shirts, sitting on his couch watching a holovid. The sight of her dressed so skimpily reminded him of her behavior the previous evening.

"Nyota, I had meant to ask you, why did you wish to seduce me last night?"

She smiled at the abrupt questions and rose to meet him by the door as he hung up his bag. "Well I know we don't have a lot of time together and I _really_ needed you to know how much I care about you."

Spock, slightly confused by her reply, sought clarification. "But I believe I am already aware of your feelings towards me. Last night's display did not change my understanding of them."

Nyota sighed as she loosely wrapped her arms around his neck. "Yes but I wanted to you _feel_ my love for you," she responded.

Spock was intrigued, although he knew her feelings, had felt them telepathically before, it was the first time she had actually said she loved him. The vocalization of her feelings did not seem lost on her, however.

She continued in a softer voice, "I love you, Spock." She waited a moment before adding, "you don't have to say anything, I know this is hard for you."

By "this", Spock understood, she meant expressing emotion and she was correct that it was difficult for me so he simply kissed her in response.

* * *

For the second night in a row, Nyota spent the night in Spock's bed tangled in his arms and screaming his name as they touched and explored each other. Spock felt that same deep desire as the night before rise within him—the desire to make her _his_ in every way—but he repressed it and eventually they fell asleep.

And again Spock arose well before Nyota and began his work for the day. While looking through his messages, Spock saw he had a communication from his mother. As with her other messages, the content was largely of a friendly nature with her asking about his life and sharing stories of her own. It was as he watched her message that an idea came to him. He entered the communicator code for his mother and waited a moment for the connection to be established.

"_Hello, Mother_," he said in Vulcan, the language he usually used with his parents despite his mother's native tongue being Standard.

"_Hello, Spohkh. What a surprise, I did not expect to hear back from you so soon or in person_." It was true, he did often leave her communiques as a last priority and he usually sent a recorded message.

"_Yes mother I received you message and I wanted to ask you about something_."

"_Oh?_" Spock knew his mother no longer made the effort to conceal her emotions with those she was close with and saw she was mildly shocked by his statement.

"_Yes. I am curious about the nature of bonds and the ways in which they form. I understand they can form through intimate interactions but how would one avoid forming a bond in a similar situation?"_ Despite his attempts at making his question general and scientific, Spock saw from his mother's reaction what he was really asking and felt the tips of his ears get hot.

"_Well,"_ she said after a short pause. "_I suppose you are asking these questions for a reason_." Before Spock had a chance to respond, she cut it. "_You don't have to tell me anything I'm am just pleased to be informed as to what is happening in your life_.

"_Now as for your question, your father may be the better person to ask but I understand if you would like me to try to explain everything_." Spock was grateful for her understanding, he and his father had not spoken in quiet a long time and he did not relish the thought of having to explain his having a human girlfriend to his exceptionally Vulcan father.

"_Now bonds formed in the traditional way I believe you know about. Children have their betrothal bond and, in adulthood, solidify that bond with an elder or together during Pon Far on their own into a marriage bond. There are other bonds, however, that occur more naturally, usually during Pon Far, when two Vulcans are intimate and bond together. This creates a marriage bond instantly._" So far his mother had not given him any new information and he was beginning to lose faith she would be able to help him.

"_Now the only other example of a bond forming outside of Pon Far between two non-betrothed people is between your father and myself._" He saw she was slightly uncomfortable and wondered at what she had to tell him. "_When we were—"_ she paused, searching for the word, "_intimate, we melded which created a marriage bond between the two of us. This was not the first time we had melded nor the first time was had been—_" again she paused, "_together but it was the combination of factors that created a bond between us. Your father theorized that, as Vulcans generally only copulate during Pon Far, it is note general knowledge that copulation and melding at any time can form a bond._"

Spock was both intrigued by what his mother was telling him and repelled. The thought of his mother and father performing some of the acts he and Nyota did was mildly disturbing but to hear about them from his mother was only adding to his sense of disgust.

"_Does that help?"_ his mother asked, apparently done sharing her bonding story.

"_Yes that is very helpful. Thank you, mother_."

"_Well I'm glad I could help, is that the only reason you called?_"

In truth it was but, knowing she wanted to hear about how he had been he stayed on the call for an additional 30 minutes to "catch up".

* * *

Shortly before ending his call, Spock heard Nyota rise and saw her appear in the doorway, behind the monitor so his mother could not see him. As soon as he said his farewell, Nyota walked over to him and took a seat in his lap.

"You were talking to you mother?" she asked.

"Yes, she had sent me a communique and I wanted to ask her a few questions," he said, not wanting to elaborate on the questions he'd been asking. He had a bit more research to do but if his theory was correct then she would be finding out soon enough.

"So what do you want to do today?" Nyota asked. "I have to pack at some point but the rest of my day is free and I was thinking we could just both go back to bed." She was giving him one of her looks again and he knew was she meant by "back to bed".

Not needing to be told twice, he lifted her up and began carrying her to his bed room. There he dropped her down on the mattress and began another exploration of her body.


	23. Chapter 23

They spent nearly the entirely of Friday lounging in Spock's quarters: watching holos, snacking, and in near constant physical contact. They had already decided that they would say their goodbyes when Nyota left Spock's quarters to pack her bag. After her spending so much time in the officer's quarters building, Spock thought it best they not be seen together saying goodbye before she boarded her transport. Of course, that did not mean the idea of being apart from her for one night longer was any more pleasing. His only comfort was in the knowledge that he would only need to wait a few weeks before seeing her again for their trip to Vulcan.

Following Nyota's departure from his quarters and subsequent departure from the Academy, Spock found that he was unusually preoccupied with thoughts of her. On more than one occasion he found himself wondering where she was, what she was doing, if she was enjoying her visit with family. Disturbed by his strange lack of focus, Spock used every moment he was not working or exercising for meditation but found he was at his calmest, deepest, meditative state when he thought of Nyota. Somehow the thought of her was soothing. Curious.

Still, Spock had work to do and needed a distraction from the strange absence he felt in his routine with Nyota gone. He had come to terms with the fact that he felt some kind of un-Vulcan affection for the Cadet but was most surprised by the confusion he felt without her around. It was a long three weeks.

* * *

Early on the morning of January 2nd, Spock arrived to collect his transport shuttle. He had reserved the shuttle from the 2nd until the last day of break, the 9th, but expected to only spend a portion of those days on Vulcan. He already knew he would need to bring Nyota back to her home in Kenya before her already schedule transport back to the Academy. For her to arrive any other way would be highly unusual and could incur some suspicion.

The only trouble he encountered was that the hanger manager he signed the shuttle out from appeared ill and mentioned "too much New Year's partying" as Spock signed the appropriate PADD. He loaded the camping gear and Vulcan apparel he had rented or replicated into the shuttle then began the ignition sequence and was off to Kenya.

In the course of the short flight over Spock felt a growing tension within himself. Nerve? Excitement? He was unsure and entirely uncomfortable with the sensation. Once he had course laid in and the ship underway, he moved to the rear bulkhead and attempted a short meditation to purge the feelings but found little relief.

Upon hearing the notification sound that he was approaching his destination, Spock arose from his position on the floor and reclaimed his seat at the helm. He maneuvered the ship into the landing bay of the public shuttle port Nyota had instructed him to collect her at and waited at his comm. After just 37 seconds it chimed with a message from the shuttle port that his passenger had arrived and awaited approval for boarding. Spock felt another jolt of _something_ that he quickly suppressed as he typed the approval message into the keypad and opened the shuttle doors.

As Spock walked down the shuttle ramp he zeroed in on the form of a women, garbed in a bright, flowing, blue dress moving towards him. The standard issue Star Fleet gear bag she was carrying was at odds with the otherwise civilian look of her. Spock resisted the urge to meet her in the middle of the shuttle bay but new he should stay by the shuttle and greet her, professionally, there. After a surprisingly difficult 87 seconds, Nyota was standing in front of him, smiling in a way he had never seen and watching him intently.

"Hello, Commander," she said. "Are you ready to go?" He could tell she was bursting with excitement; in a state he had never seen her before.

"Yes, Cadet. If you will follow me," he invited, turning to walk up the ramp. As Spock entered the command to close the hatch doors, Nyota dropped her bag among the other supplies and hesitated for a moment, watching the shuttle doors slowly close.

The moment they shut, she was on him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, running her hands through his hair all while kissing him fiercely. Her eagerness spurred Spock into action and he was running his hands over her body, relearning her shape, taking in her scent, and tasting her for the first time in weeks.

He leaned into her and she arched her back in response, gasping in shock. The soft sound was music to Spock's ears and he bit her bottom lip. She moaned again and Spock pulled her up before forcing her back against the shuttle wall, her legs wrapping around his waist. He moved his mouth down her neck, biting and sucking on her soft skin, inhaling her scent, as she panted in his ear.

"Ugh, Spock, I've missed you," she panted, running her hands through his short hair. Spock pulled back from her for a moment.

"I have missed you as well," he said, strangely breathless, before kissing her hard on the mouth. Again she began clawing at him, her hips brushing against him as she squirmed in her position against the wall. And then Spock heard a chime from the comm console.

They broke apart and Nyota sighed before dropping her forehead down to his shoulder. "Guess you better get that, Spock."

Spock put her back down and moved to the comm console to see the shuttle port had cleared him for departure. Looking over his shoulder to read the message, Nyota moved to the co-pilot's chair and began preparing the shuttle for exiting Earth's atmosphere. Spock took the seat beside her and began maneuvering the ship out of the shuttle port. He could see Nyota watching him and began explaining exactly what he was doing, keeping in mind that she had only ever been in a flight simulator and had yet to actually leave Earth.

When they excited the atmosphere, Spock entered the coordinates for Vulcan. Before engaging warp, he turned to watch Nyota's face as it filled with anticipation. As the stars around the shuttle appeared to stretch he was the complete wonder on Nyota's face and, without thinking, reached out to take her hand. Through their joined fingers he got the faint impression of exactly how awe inspiring Nyota felt space travel to be. They remained that way for the first 15 minutes of the journey.

With the shuttle's limited warp capabilities, the trip to Vulcan was set to be 3 hours. When Spock began to sense Nyota's interest through their fingers in talking to him, Spock suggested they move to the rear of the shuttle where they could sit more comfortably.

* * *

They spent the next two hours catching up, Nyota telling Spock about her family and the things she did with them as they all caught up. Spock told Nyota the projects he had taken over during the break for professors who were away—something she still insisted she was interested in but that Spock, himself, found fairly dull—and he found himself unable to hide the fact that without her, his days were strangely lacking. She had not been there to have lunch with him in his office or to practice languages with. It was strange to feel an absence so deeply; he only felt reassured that he had made the right choice in arraigning their camping trip.

Shortly before their final approach to Vulcan, Spock opened the bags he had brought and pulled out a few Vulcan robes for Nyota to choose from. She was pleased he had thought to bring them authetntic Vulcan apparel and selected a muted red robe.

"I've never wore Vulcan robes before, do you think you could help me?" she asked coyly. He was sure she could figure out how to dress herself on her own but suspected she _wanted_ him to assist her.

She made a great show of slowly removing her bright dress, sliding it deliberately down her body, exposing her covered breasts with purpose. She bent over seductively to pull the garment off and he began pulling the rob over her head. Unable to resist, he made a point of gently brushing his fingers over the exposed skin of her hips, stomach, arms, thighs and watching the shudder that ran through her as he pulled the light fabric over her.

Next he dressed himself with the occasional caress to his abdomen and arms from Nyota. When he moved to the front of the shuttle to maneuver the ship into the Vulcan atmosphere, Nyota stayed behind saying she wanted to fix her hair. Surprised that she would choose cosmetics (something he knew she did generally take interest in) over the landing, Spock left her along and took his seat.

As the shuttle began its final descent, Nyota took the seat beside him. When he looked over to her, however, he saw that she had entirely changed her hair: braiding and twisting it into a regal Vulcan style not out of place on his mother. She could almost have passed for a Vulcan woman and Spock felt something stir in him. She looked so unlike herself, so incredibly beautiful, so foreign. He was torn between attraction to her Vulcan beauty and his desire to see _his_ Nyota.

Noticing him staring, Nyota smiled before turning her attention to the view screen to watch the Vulcan skyline zoom ever closer.

* * *

Although Spock had departed the Academy in the morning, Kenya was nearly 12 hours ahead of San Francisco and he knew Nyota would be feeling tired. He had planned their trip, however, so that they would arrive on Vulcan shortly before nightfall to give Nyota the chance to watch the sunset on Vulcan and for her to adjust to the time different.

When they arrived at their "camp" site, in the L-langon Mountains, Spock opened the shuttle doors and the hot Vulcan air poured in. Nyota, fresh from her warm-weather home was not fazed by the heat and instead appeared to embrace it as she took her first steps outside. Spock watched as she walked a bit awkwardly at first, adjusting to the stronger Vulcan gravity and taking in her suroundings. He had chosen this spot as he understood tourist generally consider it the most beautiful view of ShiKahr there is. He watched Nyota take in the view for a moment longer before beginning to set up their camp.

They would sleep in the shuttle but cook outside so he began making a fire and preparing a simple dinner for them. After 27 minutes of walking around and taking in the sights, Nyota joined him in cooking. Their dinner was ready just before the sunset started, as Spock had planned, and they were able to eat and watch the sky change from a glowing orange to deep, star-studded, black. Again Spock held Nyota's hand and sensed everything she felt as she watched what she believed to be the most beautiful sunset she had ever seen. Although Spock had seen many sunsets just like this one he felt this experience was different, perhaps simply because he was seeing—and feeling—it through the lens of human emotions.

As soon as it got dark, Spock felt the temperature drop 3 degrees and he began packing up their small camp and moving into the shuttle. It would not be long before the cold became deadly.

As Spock closed the shuttle doors for the night he saw Nyota crossing her arms around herself, beginning to feel the night's cold. He knew she was tired so he hit the release for the stowed beds to unfold and began unpacking the blankets he had brought. Nyota saw what he was doing and frowned.

"Is there something wrong," he asked.

"The beds are separate," she answered simply, looking at the improvised mattresses.

Surprised her had not considered this, Spock began considering their options. He had packed sleeping bags just in case, he supposed they could use those. Just as the thought occurred to him, Nyota began pulling the thin mattress away from the exposed bed and threw it on the floor before doing the same with the other. She arranged them so that they aligned with each other before pulling blankets over them so they would appear to be one mattress.

"There," she said, finally. Spock pulled out the sleeping backs and began laying them on the now double mattress when Nyota him and unzipped them so they could be used as blankets instead. It was this very creativity that made humans so fascinating to Vulcans.

They stood there for a moment before Nyota began rubbing her arms to try to keep warm in the rapidly cooling room. She was still wearing the light Vulcan robes that were meant for the heat of a Vulcan day.

"You are cold," Spock commented, "would you like a blanket?"

Nyota turned to him and he saw that devious smile of hers that always meant trouble appearing on her face. "Well you could always warm me up," she said innocently, moving towards him. When she was close enough he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in to share his body heat. He heard and felt her sigh against him and they stayed that way while Nyota warmed up.

After a moment she began pulling back and said, "You know, Spock, there are better ways of keeping warm." Before he had a chance to respond she was kissing him, deliberately and forcefully to make her point at just what sort of activities would keep her warm.

Spock pushed back against her, gripping her hips, encouraged by the knowledge that this time they would not have to stop. "Nyota," he breathed, pulling back for a moment. "I have researched the problem and I am certain that so long as we do not mind meld while copulating we will not inadvertently form a bond." Breathless and a bit surprised by the sudden and ill-timed revelation, Nyota's only response was to reattach his mouth.

Their kiss was full of lust, biting at each other while they rand their hands over the other's clothed form. After only minutes of his Spock began pushing Nyota's outer robe off her shoulders so it fell to the shuttle floor. In response she started forcing his off as well. Through a combination of undressing themselves and each other all while attempting to maintain as much physical contact as possible, Nyota was eventually down to just her bra and underwear and Spock his boxers.

Just as Nyota's last bit of Vulcan apparel fell to the floor, Spock picked up her and roughly dropped her on their double mattress. He had to drop to the floor to join her and began crawling his way up her body, liking and biting his way up her thighs, her stomach, her breasts all while Nyota ran roughly forced his head closer. He was now fully hard and when he reached her mouth they began another deep kiss. Spock lifted Nyota's back off the mattress just enough he could unhook her bra and toss it aside.

Her breasts exposed to him, Spock moved his mouth lower and began sucking hard on one nipple. Nyota was mewling beneath him and the sound only spurred him on as he ran his fingers over the other nipple. She was squirming under him, occasionally brushing her hop against his cock and he knew he would have to take her and soon. Abandoning her breasts, he moved lower down her body, sliding her panties off and tossing them aside.

With her dripping pussy open to him, Spock began lapping up her juices as he ran a finger over her swollen clit. She reacted to the contact immediately, her hips violently rocking against him as she let out a noise of socked pleasure. He continued rubbing on her clit until he knew she was close. As he felt her orgasm approaching, he shifted and began sucking hard on her sensitive clit, pushing her over the edge with a crashing orgasm he felt echoing through his fingertips.

Unable to resist after feeling her own pleasure, Spock tore off his own underwear and was back on her in seconds. "Nyota," he groaned, "_I must have you_," he did not even realize he had spoken Vulcan. Not yet recovered from her orgasm, Nyota did took a moment to understand Spock's meaning before responding.

"_Yes, Spohkh, God yes I'm yours take me!"_ she practically cried in Vulcan.

As soon as she said the words, Spock was lost to his passion. He pushed into her with one deep thrust, burying he entire cock in her slick pussy. Nyota cried out, arching her back against him and digging her fingers into his biceps.

He began thrusting hard and fast, pure Vulcan lust cursing through him. He held her hips in place with bruising strength and he snapped his hips hard against hers. She was squirming and gasping with every thrust, Spock feeling the faint sensation of her pleasure through their physical contact.

But he needed more. Suddenly he gripped her back and yanked her up so she was straddling his kneeling form. He began slamming her down on his cock and she was nearly crying at the sensation. He was close, Nyota knew is and managed to work her hand between them to massage her clit. His passing was more staggered and his thrusts desperate.

With one great, exhausted thrust he came inside her hard and Nyota brought herself along with him, the two of them gasping and shaking around each other. Spock thrusted inter her twice more, the muscles in his legs contracting at random. Nyota was shaking everywhere and could hardly keep her eyes open as waves of endorphins flooded her system.

They remained like that for a moment longer before Spock lowered them to the mattress, their bodies still joined where they both immediately fell asleep.


	24. Chapter 24

They awoke twice in the middle of the night to continue the evenings activities. When Uhura finally began to stir in the morning, she noticed Spock was not with her. When she checked the time, however, she was not surprised: she had slept for nearly 10 hours. Spock, when he slept late, only ever slept about 7. Before sitting up from her "bed" on the shuttle floor, Nyota stretched and felt a slight strain in her muscles and joints, like she had spent an extra hour in the gym the day before, and smiled to herself.

Rather than get fully dressed in the multilayered Vulcan robe she would need help with anyway, Nyota simple slipped on the slightly sheer outer robe and opened the shuttle door. She saw Spock preparing breakfast for them and assumed he had spent the morning prior to her awakening mediating.

"Good morning," she said with a smile, suddenly everything had a new sexual meaning she could extract.

Spock looked up from his cooking as she approached and she saw his eyes roam over her body darkly as he took in her form in the revealing robe. She felt a jolt in the pit of her stomach and had to remind herself that this was likely her only chance to visit Vulcan as a tourist and that they could not spend the entire trip rolling around on the floor of the shuttle.

"I have prepared Plomeek broth, it will not be the same as from a replicator as I used dehydrated nutrient packs but I am confident it will be sufficiently pleasing," Spock said, ladling some into a bowl and handing it to her.

She spooned some into her mouth. "It's great Spock, you're such a chef." He did not comment on her complement but tried some himself.

After a moment of comfortable silence as they ate, Spock asked Nyota if there was anything she especially wanted to see that day. She considered this for a moment before rattling off a list of every major Vulcan historical or geographical site then reordering her list by region for travel purposes. Spock, momentarily stunned by the amount of time she would have put into researching tourist attractions, let he continue uninterrupted until she had essentially formulated their entire plan for the next few days.

When they had finished their breakfast, Spock and Nyota began packing up their camps to prepare to fly to the first of Nyota's requested sites: a particularly famous peak in the L-langon Mountains with a direct view of ShiKahr. Before taking off however, Spock pulled a small colorful box from his bag.

"Nyota," he said, running his fingertips lightly down her arm to stop her excited attempt at piloting. "I understand your birthday has just passed and that this is cause for celebration among Terrans. In keeping with that tradition I have gotten you something." He held out the small box to her and he watched the surprise play over her face.

"Spock," she said, looking up to meet his gaze, "you didn't have to do this, our time together is already more than I could ask for."

She still had not taken the small box so Spock reached for her hand and placed the gift in her palm. "I insist, if we are to be an inter-species relationship and you are to respect my own cultures' customs as you have them I am to respect yours." At that a great smile spread across Nyota's face and she reached behind Spock's head to pull him in for a quick kiss.

She then turned her attention to the gift in her hand and began to tear at the delicate paper away to reveal a wooden box. She opened the box to find a pair of earrings, a shimmering white oval that would suspend from her ear. She touched them softly before looking up at Spock with a soft, if emotional, smile. "They're beautiful," she said softly before removing them from the packaging and trying them on.

"They are carved from shells found on one of the oceans of Vulcan," he explained. "I thought such a gift would serve the dual purpose of commemorating your birthday and creating a physical token of our trip."

Nyota smiled with her new earrings now secure. "How do they look?" she asked playfully. He did not want to add that he had selected these particular earrings for the way they reminded him of the champaign-colored dresses he had so admired on her. Seeing her in the earrings brought memories of both the night he had taken her to the Vulcan restaurant near campus, in many ways their first date, and the evening they had spent—or at least started to spend—at the nightclub.

"You look beautiful," he said, understanding the unfamiliar truth in an illogical statement. Nyota, catching his lapse in formal logical qualifiers, smiled slightly and kissed him light again.

And with gift giving complete they began their journal through Vulcan's natural sites.

* * *

For the next three days, Spock and Nyota traversed the more notable features of Vulcan. She insisted on taking images of everything with as many of the two of the in the shot as possible which, of course, Spock acquiesced to in the interest of placing her human and emotional desires.

On the morning of January 6th (on the Terran calendar), Spock awoke to a wonderful sensation in his groin region to discover Nyota lightly running her fingers over his cock. Seeing that she had woken him he and without saying a word, Nyota began sliding down Spock's body until she had positioned her mouth over his gradually hardening cock.

She looked up at him and made eye contact as she began lightly kissing the tip of his cock, barely even touching him, while griping him firmly at the base. Her warm breath only heightened the sensation and soon he was fully hard in her hand. Realizing this, Nyota wrapped her lips firmly around his tip before pulling her head away with a slight pop. It was a new feeling and Spock resisted the urge to yank her mouth back down onto his cock. She performed the same movement one more time before placing her lips around him and slowly taking his cock deeper into her mouth.

She took him in half way before slowly moving back up again. She continued these slow bobs of her head before again releasing him and running her tongue up the full length of his cock, moving her fingers down to gently fondle his balls. She continued licking in long strokes over his shaft, occasionally stopping to suck on or swirl her tongue around the tip. Precum was beginning to ooze from his cock and she lapped it up happily, staring into his eyes all the while.

Spock understood she was going to draw this out and some part of him love it and some part wanted to throw her down on the mattress and fuck her until she screamed for making him wait for his release. Moving in for more of the wonderful torture, Nyota dropped lower and began taking his balls in her mouth what she ran her hand up and down his cock, now thoroughly cover with her saliva.

She gently nibbled on skin between his testes before taking one into her mouth and sucking. She brought her free hand up to roll the second one between her fingers. He bucked up into her hand in response and she felt his balls switch in her mouth. Ready to bring him to his finish, Nyota moved back up to his cock and began taking him deep in her throat once more. She nearly took all of him with the first stroke and easily took the rest of him with the next.

She was bobbing her head violently on his cock and this time he couldn't resist. Spock reached one hand into Nyota's hair and began forcing her down on his cock faster. He could see her eyes watering but she did not object or gag so he kept forcing her down, near explosion. To push him over the edge Nyota reached her hand up and ran her fingers over his balls. That was it for Spock and he came hard in Nyota's mouth, forcing her head down onto him and holding her there while his cum spirted into her throat.

After a moment he released her and she lifted her head, gasping slightly with moist eyes but not upset. It was perhaps one of the best orgasms he had ever experienced and he could see the satisfaction on Nyota's eyes.

She crawled up beside him while he caught his breathe. "Happy birthday," she whispered, a smile on her lips.

Of course. She was his TA and therefor has access to his personnel record and would know that today was his birthday. He felt himself frown slightly and saw Nyota smile in response before lightly kissing him on the nose.

"I have to be honest though, I haven't gotten you an actual present yet but I will be giving you one once the spring term has started."

Without thinking Spock responded "I was under the impression your birthday present to me was the service you just provided." She giggled for a moment before taking on a look of mock seriousness. "I'm that good, am I?"

The two lied in bed for a moment longer, playfully touching before checking the time and getting up. They would be leaving Vulcan that day so that Nyota could spend her last days of her Winter Break with her family. She had told them about her trip but implied that she would be going with a group of Cadets, not just her Commander, and that there was some form of extra credit involved.

As they began packing up their gear to prepare for their return to earth, Nyota turned to Spock. "I don't know exactly how to say this without sounding like I'm trying to make you introduce me but did you want to visit your parents while we are here?"

Spock had already considered informing his parents of his visit to Vulcan, knowing his mother would be happy to see him in person, but had decided against it. Although his mother general notified him when they would be on earth, Spock assumed that Sarek and his mother would be entertaining Terran dignitaries stationed on Vulcan and wishing to commemorate their home's new year. Although this was a somewhat reasonable excuse for not contacting him, Spock recognized that part of his reasoning was that he did not want to see his father. They had not spoken in years and some part of him, although not ashamed of his relationship with Nyota, was certain that his father would disapprove of his behavior and did not want to face that.

"No I have decided not to contact them of my visit to our home world." From the face she made, Spock could see Nyota was not satisfied with his response but did not push him. She knew his relationship with his father was tenebrous and left the decision to his own judgement despite her own desire to meet his parents herself.

"Alright then, let's get moving," she said, closing the subject.

They packed the rest of their gear and set the shuttle for a return trip to earth before departing their campsite. As the shuttle left Vulcan's atmosphere, Nyota looked down at the coppery planet in farewell.


End file.
